The Guardians of Light: Nuclear Meltdown
by Dr.Goo282
Summary: Felix was just an unusual kid, but then he was swept away from his world into a world of Pokemon. Now transfromed into a Chesnaught and stuck in this colorful world of his dreams, Felix must fight in the tournament alongside a Gardevoir named Sylvia. The two of them will have many challenges ahead, but they don't know just what they got involved in. (Includes some Fakemon, Enjoy).
1. Chapter 1: Awakening

Chapter 1: Awakening

Alessandro was quite bored with having to monitor the reactor. It kept humming along with the water rushing through it, all of the monitors showing average readings, not a creak or groan to be heard from the atomic device. The reactor was going to be taken apart soon and buried to make room for a new solar generator that could do the job with not nearly as much hazard to the environment. He was sad to have to tear down the old machine; he had designed it and built it himself with the help of his brother, Nikola. But progress had to be made, an old nuclear plant could not stand when there were better ways to produce energy.

As he thought this, something odd happened. The core reactor temperature was rising, but the pressure was decreasing. He thought nothing of it, the dials were always moving in strange patterns due to the nature of their location. The machine was only ten years old, but was often quirky. After a while, the dial started to swivel back and forth over the pressure gauge. Something weird was going on, the core temperature was also climbing quickly in the opposite direction of the pressure. Then the pressure and temperature started to rise rapidly, beginning to put strain on the poor reactor. The Uranium was somehow becoming more solid and reactive, but the pressure still mounted.

The reactor walls were beginning to groan, signaling for Alessandro to activate the alarm and increase the coolant pressure. He increased the incoming coolant, but the heat only began to rise, seeping through the reactor walls with intensity. He lowered the Carbon rods to stifle the reaction, but it continued unabated. This had never happened, even with other nuclear incidents. Someone, or something, was causing the reaction to accelerate past anything they could normally achieve. The temperature was beginning to melt the reactor walls, allowing radiation to stream from the cracks and holes it had melted. Even with all this going on, the most disturbing fact was that he could feel a presence of thought INSIDE the reactor, seeking to escape from its metal prison. The alarms were blaring, as the reactor could no longer contain the pressure.

He figured it was about to explode, killing him in the process, but the reactor simply melted, revealing a strange, wad of acid green and midnight black metallic gunk in the middle that was irradiating the whole chamber. It was collecting the remains of molten metal, absorbing it into itself until it was floating on its own accord, growing beyond what it was absorbing. It began to take shape, growing a large green shell with circuit like patterns etched into it. It grew arms with black fingers and etched green hands. He sprouted a small black head with an antenna.

It was finished, fully made from the liquid remains of its capsule, radiant with untold power. It turned to face him with large, acid green eyes that briefly glowed violet. His stare then started boring into his body with an intense stream of nuclear particles. He could feel the power overcoming his resistance, but instead of melting him, it charged him with acidic power, filling his body with an unbearable pain. He was losing consciousness, losing grip of who he was. The pain then receded, being fully filled with this new power.

His thoughts weren't straight, but he could hear the new creature trying to speak to him in his mind. It asked him "what is my name?" with an angry, impatient tone in his voice. His mind was beginning to lose focus, so all he could say was "ur…uran…" before he could remember more. The new figure enjoyed what he could hear, saying "Urayne" with a tone of acceptance.

Urayne was satisfied with his new name and ability to make others more powerful. He could sense other lesser beings coming to try and clean up his mess, but that would be the last thing they remembered, as they would soon be his minions. Minions to Urayne: Lord of the Atom.


	2. Chapter 2: Tuesday

Chapter 2: Tuesday

Felix never really enjoyed Tuesdays. People always complain to him about how bad Mondays are, but he more often had bad Tuesdays. Camping trips with tornado level storms, general unease in the class room, and several incidents where he was left behind at band camp were common on Tuesdays. As if moving wasn't bad enough, the universe had to subject him to extreme weirdness.

It was January 5th, 2016, he was just lying down on his bed, trying to enjoy a few moments to himself while the packers were working on the basement. He was lying on his stomach with a good book in his hands when he suddenly felt an alien presence, as if someone or something was coming closer. His bed beneath him began to feel less solid, more illusion than substance. He began to sink through what he thought was his bed, but was rather a viscous darkness that enveloped him. He was no longer in his room, but falling slowly through a colorless void. His eyes could reveal nothing of his surroundings, or confirm the falling sensation.

As he fell through this void, immense pain was piercing every part of his body. He felt as if something was stretching him from all sides, trying to tear him apart. He could feel his body changing, morphing in this abyss with no known cause. He was in agony, no part of him would stop hurting. He could feel the absence around seemingly tearing at his bones and muscles, stretching him as it would most likely consume him. He figured he was dying, as he could see a light at the end of what he could call the tunnel of darkness. The light leaking into this void was illuminating little of the nothingness, but revealed a purple tinge to the world around him.

He was falling at subdued speed, but still strong enough to flatten him. He figured he was about to leave the world of the living when he came out of the hole. He fell out of the hole on top of something or someone he didn't see. As he began to fall unconscious from pain and fatigue, he tried to contact whatever he laid on top of from seemingly nowhere. He could only say "Sorry" as he slipped into painful sleep.

He awoke with an odd taste in his mouth, something nutty, and then noticed that something had gone awry. The world around him lacked exact detail, looking more like it was drawn than real. The art style tickled his aching brain, but could not find anything to describe what he was seeing.

He was lying sideways on a plush white bed, which was unusual as he normally sleeps on his back. He tried to swivel himself so that he could lie down, but found something resisting his motion, like a large heavy backpack. He didn't bring a backpack with him, which meant he either got a new backpack that he didn't know of, or something grew out of his back. He then remembered the searing pain he felt as he fell through the void. It occurred to him that maybe he was…transformed.

He could feel some odd strength and definition to his form, with larger and more powerful muscles in his limbs. He lifted his hands to his face to examine them and was shocked by what he saw. His arms appeared drawn, but no longer human. He only had three brown claw-like fingers on each hand, his forearm being much large than normal and covered in large white scales that formed protective armor over every inch of his arms. The backs of his arm had a thick green plating, getting wider as it extended to his hands with two dull spikes on the back. He rubbed his face to discover that he had grown a beard, soft and white. He had no hair on his head, instead having a protective helmet like armor piece.

It was somewhat sad that he lost his hair, as it was one of the features he liked about himself, soft and thick enough that his Uncle David nicknamed it "the pelt". The large weight on his back was something like a shell, large and bulky with spikes on his shoulders. His chest also had soft, white fur covering it while beige scales covering every spare inch of his body. His feet had three brown toes, similar to his fingers but fused together.

Whatever he became, it certainly wasn't human. He then tried to roll off of the bed to discover more about where he was, but instead fell flat on his face. The ground was covered in thick, white, shag carpet like flooring, showing that the people or things that built this place had a sense of comfort. When he finally got off the floor, (the shell was very heavy and he still couldn't reach full height) he began to examine the room.

It appeared to be of modern design, having light mint green walls and little furnishings; a wooden bed stand with a lamp, a window to the left showing a lush flower garden, and a mirror on the opposite wall. He lumbered towards the mirror to further examine himself. He was now much stronger than any human, having a larger build and increased muscle mass beyond human capacities. He immediately knew that if he ever was able to return to his old life, they would never stop pestering about playing football with renewed vigor.

His shell was a beige color and had large spikes protruding out of the back. It had a small, green piece connected across his chest to keep it around his neck. It had a small band of green and red that went around the edge of his shell. His face was different, but still had that look of brooding or anger plastered to it. He had a small pink nose and the only other feature he kept from being human, his emerald eyes. His eyes were larger and slanted, holding his face in a permanent scowl. He then noticed he had a tail between his legs, beige with a thick green backing and about two feet long as far as he could figure.

It is extremely odd to have a tail, making it harder for him to stand straight. His new appearance gave him some more hints of what had happened to him, but he wasn't sure until she came through the door to his right. He turned to the right to find a door; it was white with a brass knob facing him. He approached the door when it swung inward as someone came in.

After narrowly avoiding getting smacked in the face by a door, he examined what he assumed was his hostess. Whatever it was, it appeared feminine, or even human, but was very pale, white more like it. She had a slim angelic figure and at first appeared to be wearing a dress, but was in fact part of her body. Her top half had green going from her waist to her slim arms. Her bottom was gown like and split into six pieces. In the middle of her chest, she had a red thorn extended out from her body. The "neckline" of her shirt went below her thorn. Her neck was thin and her head was very round, like some sort of paper doll. She had green hair that turned over her head and down to her neck, with three white feather like protrusions from her face. She had small thin lips and large ruby red eyes that glowed with a kind of kindness or constant happiness.

She smiled and said "I was coming to check on you. How are you feeling?" Her voice was smooth and resonant, like a singer or an angel (or at least what he thought an angel would sound like). The voice only confirmed one of his ideas, because it told him that she was a Gardevoir. A Pokémon. And since he could understand her, he was also a Pokémon.

Immediately his head began to fill with questions like, "Are there people in this world, or only Pokémon?" "Could she read his mind?" "Where was he in this odd part of the universe?". His brain was now filled with these questions and many more, leaving her question unanswered. "Fine" he replied, hoping he didn't look panicked or in awe. Her face became one of concern, probably due to the look of absolute confusion on his face. She then asked "Are you hungry?" An odd and completely normal question, considering what must have just happened. He then remembered the stabbing pain of hunger he was feeling and said "Yes". She appeared satisfied by his answer and began to walk down the hall with Felix in tow.

He had some difficulty going out the door with his new grown shell and spines, but he managed. She walked with an untold grace that was as if her feet never touched the ground. The rest of the halls were the mint green of his room, but he still could not believe all that had just happened in the last 8 hours or so, leading to him enjoying breakfast with the Embrace Pokémon.


	3. Chapter 3: Breakfast

Chapter 3: Breakfast

He was still questioning all that had happened when he entered her kitchen. The kitchen was simple, being mostly white with hints of mint green. He had no idea what he was going to have to eat now that he was no longer human. He remembered that the name for the creature he became was called Chesnaught. She went to the bread box and pulled out two strange cakes, one lemon yellow, and the other hot pink. She offered him the yellow one, which he examined closely.

It was small and egg shaped, having no notable features. "What is it?" he asked, unsure of what he was going to eat. "Poffins, they're really good, just try it." She responded. Poffins… that sounded awfully familiar, but he was still unsure if it meant anything. He then nibbled it, finding the strange treat oddly satisfying, slightly sour, and a hint bitter. It was an odd thing to enjoy, but he managed. They both just stood there, enjoying their cakes, with no intentions to speak to each other or otherwise break the silence.

After they both finished the small cakes, she got out two glasses and filled them with water, offering one to Felix. Felix nodded to show his thanks and began to drink the refreshing water. After his first sip, he was about to ask her a question, but she beat him to the chase with "How did you get here?" He tried to think about it, but couldn't think of anything in particular, only able to process what had happened in the void. "I'm not sure, but I remember falling through an empty void, being changed into this new form. Then I just fell out into wherever I am now. Oh, and sorry about squishing you, I had no control of where I could land." She smiled and replied "Well maybe it was for the best, I probably cushioned your fall and prevented further injury on your part." The silence began to fill the space between them again. He figured she was trying to let him ask a question next, but it is much harder for him to ask questions, especially when he was alone with someone. Maybe something happened here that drew him to this world.

"Has anything…odd happened here recently?" She remained calm at his question, but something seemed to click in her head. "Nothing that could tear the fabric of space, but there was a nuclear incident two weeks ago on a nearby island. Nothing drastic, but it's still undergoing cleanup." That wasn't entirely helpful, but her response was too calculated, as if she read his mind. He then began to ask "Can you read my mind and…" " _Speak through your mind as well?"_ She managed to say that without moving her lips, resonating in his head instead. She continued " _It takes a small amount of effort, but yes. I can speak to you and understand you through your head. Try talking back to me."_ He was about to speak again, then figured that she meant through his mind. He thought " _is it normal for something like me to be able to talk through my mind?"_ She replied " _No, I just felt that your mind was strangely different from others. I wanted to see if you could manage."_

Great, five minutes and he already was singled out for something odd about his mind. He was never the same as people around him, being more reclusive and introverted. His mom always joked that nobody could read his mind, but now he found a world full of people who can whilst still being an oddity. Just great.

" _Don't worry, lots of us can communicate through our minds, it's perfectly normal"_ Her voice replied. That was just freaky, she just responded to something he thought without trying to tell her. Now it was his turn to ask the question. "How old are you?" He immediately regretted it as that was one of the questions he was told never to ask someone, or in his case a Pokémon. "Eighteen, and you?" Her reply was calmer than he expected, maybe it wasn't as big a deal here. He replied "Seventeen years" as appoint to clarify it was years, not months or centuries.

Her next question was something that was missing in all of this questioning, but still not yet asked. "What's your name?" The only logical response was "Felix Wilshore, and your name would be?" "Sylvia Throckmorton" That was a nice name, simple yet elegant.

After that, she then tugged on his arm saying "Come on, we have lots of work to do." That was not a response he was looking for. He thought she would begin to ask a few more questions that needed answering, not make him do something. "What are we doing?" he asked. She replied in his mind " _We need to get you ready for the Welcoming Tournament. When you arrived, they mentally broadcasted that they now had enough newcomers to begin the Tournament. We're going to need to get ready for that, seeing as you are the sixteenth competitor."_ This was a rush of information she had just given him.

Who were "they"? Why was he a competitor in some tournament? Where were they going? _"You need to train for the competition, it is a way to welcome you to the region officially. The other competitors have spent weeks training and you're going to need to catch up."_ She told him as she grabbed a tan traveling bag off of a hook and put it over her shoulder. That still didn't answer who "they" were, but it was a step in the right direction. They approached another white door that moved on its own, showing him just how real this new world was.


	4. Chapter 4: Mossdeep

Chapter 4: Mossdeep

Outside smelled salty, like an ocean breeze. Then he saw the ocean in the distance to the left, wildly blue and ever expansive. They were obviously on an island, as the sound of crashing waves could be faintly heard all around him. The grass was trimmed short, barely coming past his large heel. They had an excellent view of the beach in front of him, only being a brisk walk away. He then heard a masculine voice say "Good morning Sylvia, what's with the stranger?"

He turned to his right to look at whoever spoke, finding a creature similar to Sylvia. He was about the same height as her, taller, but still barely reaching Felix's chin. His legs were still thin, but looked to have more mass to them, like he could do some fancy leg work to defend himself. He had a wide circular waist, looking somewhat absurd. His top half was forest green, with blade like forearms with small hands at the ends. He also had a red thorn in his chest, although more angular and protruded most from his back. His head was large and round, like Sylvia's, but he had a forest green helmet-like structure instead of hair. It had a teal stripe down the middle that lead to a large fin from the top of the helmet, looking like plumage from his head. He had two feather like protrusions from his face instead of three and had a duller shade red eyes, more like garnet. Felix believed the name for the creature was Gallade, the male counterpart of Gardevoir.

He was in front of the building next to them, with his hands on his hips and a smile on his face. "He's a newcomer Thomas, we need to get to the gym and train for the tournament." Sylvia said. Thomas's smile began to waiver. "Oh, ok, maybe we could do something later. What's his name?" he asked. Felix then replied "Felix", not sure of what was going to happen. Thomas tried to keep smiling while Felix and Sylvia passed by on the concrete path.

There was definitely something going on between Sylvia and Thomas, so he asked her "Is he a friend?" to avoid any other kind of deeper connection. She replied nonchalantly "Yes, one of my best friends, why do you ask?" "Nothing, just wondering." he was just hoping that he wasn't a boyfriend and he was in the middle of some Pokémon love triangle. They passed the other buildings, all of them with red brick tile roofs and beige walls. The color scheme reminded him of something from a Pokémon game he played, somewhere called, what was it, Mossdeep city? But that couldn't be, it was just a game. Then again, he was obviously in a world that appeared to be based on that game, maybe Sylvia could tell him at this gym. Wait, Gym? Like a Pokémon gym?

Suddenly she stopped walking and turned to the right. In front of them was a silver dome building with golden arches encompassing the rim of the building. Over a vast open door way was a strange symbol that looked like a heart with a pink topaz in the middle and a yellow bottom. It looked exactly like one of the badges he earned in a game.

That confirmed what he suspected, that this world was based on a game he played, Pokémon Emerald, one of his favorites. But how did any of this happen? Was this world created in the image of a game, or was the game an emulation of this world? Now he was even more confused, barely able to stand. He began to lean on Sylvia on his left, almost falling over until he corrected himself. After he righted himself, Sylvia asked him "Are you okay? You got woozy for some reason." What could he tell her? If what was thinking left his mouth, would all of this unravel, like some sort of dream or computer simulation?

At last he was able to say "I'm fine, just some Deja vu." "Why would the gym give you Déjà vu? You've never been here." she responded with a look of curiosity. What could he say? That all of this was some game he played? That he knew almost everything about this world without ever being here? He sighed, preparing to try and avoid absolutely unravel everything he knew. "Everything reminds me of a game I played, I don't know if it means anything, but it just looks and feels familiar."

Nothing happened after he said that. No one else was around to say anything against this idea. The world didn't begin to implode. Silence just took over the empty space, leaving Sylvia with a look of confusion on her pale face. She stared at him for what felt like hours, but must merely have been fifteen seconds. She composed herself and said "Okay, let's go on in and begin to work on all of this" gesturing to his figure. He felt insulted, but maybe she was just trying to talk about the entirety of the problem.

They walked inside and he was absolutely blown away by what he saw. The interior of the building looked much larger on the inside. Everything looked like it was part of the cosmos. Stars and galaxies littered the walls and floors while comets, planets, and asteroids whizzed across the surface. Pink platforms floated idly around the empty space, obviously parts of the training sectors. A large translucent pink set of stadium seats were set up around the largest of the platforms, more like an earth platform rising from the ground. Four pink paths lead from the doorway and three others. They were obviously part of the upcoming tournament, ready to watch some battling or whatever.

All of it was amazing, but he was in even greater awe of the other creatures that littered the space. There weren't many of them, but they all had the distinct colorings of a few different Pokémon he knew. "Ahem" Someone was trying to grab his attention. He looked down and found a yellow creature that stood at about five feet tall. He had a large yellow mustache that he kept grooming with his three fingered clawed hand. He had a long snout followed by a dome like head with two spikes jutting from the sides and two larger ones extended backwards, like ears. In his other hand he was holding two silver spoons. He had what looked like a brown tunic covering the top part of his chest with brown bracers and knee pads to accompany the whole set. His eyes were slanted, similar to his, but the glimmered with a more potent intelligence.

" _Who are you? Are you one of the competitors in our little tournament?"_ His mental question kind of threw him for a loop, he didn't know exactly how to respond. Luckily, Sylvia answered for him. " _His name is Felix, and he is our sixteenth competitor. I will be with him in the tournament_ as his partner." The yellow creature, an Alakazam he guessed, look somewhat pleased with this. " _And what will be your team name? The visitor will have to decide this one."_

Now he had to answer the question on his own. What would be a good name for the two of them? They were both known for defensive abilities he remembered. Maybe something to do with guardians. Guardians of what? Stars kept shining in the darkness of the decor, constantly keeping the shadows at bay. The Alakazam was beginning to lose patience with him, so he pulled himself together and mentally responded _"The Guardians of Light"_

Sylvia smiled for some reason after he said that, maybe she heard him and thought the idea funny for some reason. The Alakazam was pleased with his response this time, but a little astonished that he could speak mentally. The Alakazam composed himself and then responded. _"I never knew your kind could speak like that. Guardians of Light is a nice name, I like it. I hope you and Sylvia can do well in the tournament. The other competitors are training at the other gyms, except for two others. Try to guess who they are while you're here. Odds are you'll need to face them eventually. Please enjoy your time with us here."_ After that he disappeared in a flash of light blue light.


	5. Chapter 5: Training

Chapter 5: Training

"Who was that?" Felix asked. "That was Albert, one of the gym managers. He goes to all of the other gyms to register the teams in the tournament. He's really obnoxious sometimes about how smart he is, but he fights well. I hope we don't need to fight him in the tournament." A genius named Albert, Felix found it somewhat funny that his name was similar to the genius of the century in his world.

"We need to begin soon, you're at least several days behind, if not weeks." He could understand her urgency, since he had no idea how to use his new form's powers at all. The floor beneath him was cool and smooth, like glass, but it didn't feel as solid. They started to walk down the pink path, then it began to curve unexpectedly to one of the smaller pink platforms. After they stepped on the platform, the path behind them dissolved.

There wasn't much of interest on the platform, only about a hundred feet wide and circular in shape with nothing else standing out. The training field then began to grow strange stuffed doll shaped figure all around him, fifteen in all sitting still like they were waiting for something. They reminded him of something else from his game, things called substitute dolls. These dolls were much bigger, somewhere around four feet tall, and colored pink. The Gym seemed to notice what was needed soon and where it was required. Maybe it was Albert working on making the gym suite the needs of its inhabitants. "Who runs the tournament?" the question occurred in his mind after their run-in with Albert, who was only a gym manager.

She pondered for a moment and then responded mentally " _The Welcoming tournament is run by the Hoenn Republic, the government of the region. They maintain the rules and regulations of all tournaments. I believe it will be best that we talk mentally, so that others don't know you're not from this world."_ That made sense, keep all of the people happy with tournaments, and make sure nobody dies in the events. Speaking mentally would be hard, but it would certainly help with making sure no one knew he wasn't even from around this part of reality or something. _"What are the dolls for? Targets?"_ She nodded. _"Yes, you'll need to defeat them to continue training. Try to focus your energy between your hands."_

He lifted his arms with his palms facing each other and tried to focus intently between his palms pointed towards the nearest doll. He strained to try and form a projectile in between his hands to destroy the smiling pink doll. After a while, he stopped, unable to make anything explode with all of his concentration. " _Am I doing something wrong? Nothing appears to be happening." "No, you're not doing it wrong, you just haven't unlocked your powers yet. I feared that since you are new to your form, you'll need help unleashing one of your powers. Most of them time it takes practice or emotional strain to help break in your power, but I might be able to help you_."

She then put her hands on the back of his own right hand. A jolt of Electricity began to course through him, either from the contact or from her giving him some help realizing his power. He felt energy begin to buzz through his body, potent and waiting to be released, unlocked from wherever it came from. His hands began to hum, feeling the new abilities that were at their disposal. He lifted his hands this time and began to focus intently on the same doll, tempting him with its calm smile. The energy in his hands felt like the hum of life, focused on growing and tearing through the earth. He could suddenly feel the energy in his system drain a little as a small, brown seed began to form between his hands. It grew until it was the size of his large palms, glowing green with energy. He lifted his arms and then threw it towards the doll fifteen feet in front of him.

When the seed made contact, it burst like a small firecracker, releasing the green energy stored inside to destroy the target in a small orange explosion. The doll didn't stand a chance to the power unleashed at it, vaporizing in the small explosion from the seed. Sylvia looked happy about how he just exploded something. " _Wonderful, you just mastered Seed Bomb, now you need to get rid of the other dolls."_ How was he to destroy all of the other dolls? The one Seed Bomb had drained him more than he imagined. Maybe he could shoot smaller seed bombs, conserving energy for later use. He looked at the next doll to the right, 20 feet in front of him and focused the energy between his hands again, but this time threw the bomb while it was only the size of a chestnut. This time the explosion was smaller, but it still destroyed the doll.

That was good, now he could destroy all of the targets without keeling over in exhaustion. He did this twelve more times, destroying dolls left and right with small explosive seeds. Only one target remained, almost the entire field away. He began to focus again, pulling in a portion of his new power and threw it in the direction of the last doll. The small seed flew through the air and landed a direct hit, vaporizing the animal figure in a spray of pink light. He destroyed all of the opposing dolls, Yay.

After the last doll fell on the ground as pink glitter, a bulge began to appear in the center of the arena. The bulge kept growing upwards until it looked like a vertical punching bag, slightly swollen towards the top. _"Now am I supposed to punch that until I destroy it as well?" "You're getting the hang of it."_ She said mentally with a smirk. Felix walked up to the punching bag and examined it closely. It looked like a normal opponent dummy, but instead of being weighted, it was connected to the floor. Upon even further examination, he noticed that it had scrunched eyes and a jagged upper lip. An odd decorative choice, but regardless, he had to keep punching it until it broke.

He began to punch it, making it wobble back and forth on its connection to the firm pink platform. No matter how many times he punched it, it just came right back at him, willing to take even more hits. Punching the bag normally wasn't going to help him. Maybe if he could concentrate his power into his fist, he could destroy it. He began to focus in his right fist, trying to put the living energy into something that could help destroy the upright figure. He then punched it with all of his strength and power. The result was less than satisfying. The doll merely righted itself again, eager for another taste of his fist. That was frustrating, not being able to destroy one doll just because he couldn't punch it hard enough. _"Keep trying, you'll get it eventually, just keep punching it."_

OK, just keep punching it. Felix kept on focusing his power into his fists, trying to give them strength to destroy the doll. He kept punching it, releasing blow after blow after blow trying to disintegrate it. It kept coming back up to face him again, and again, taunting him with its seeming invulnerability. He just kept punching, throwing all of his energy into each blow, hoping that one of them could destroy it once and for all. After what felt like hours, he noticed that his fists began to look different, having a green glow to them. Felix willed these new green gloves to extend spikes, allowing him to hit with smaller points to increase the damage they could do. The aura around his fists obliged, growing needle like protrusions. He then began to punch the bag with increased vigor, landing blow after blow of his new spiked fists.

The doll could no longer take it, slowly being torn apart by the relentless beating of spiked fist to its face. It began to grow cracks, spreading up and down its whole length until Felix threw one last blow, shattering the doll in pink mist. Suddenly a new masculine voice said, "Well done" with a great deal of sarcasm. Felix turned to look at who said this and was shocked at what he saw.


	6. Chapter 6: Wukong

Chapter 6: Wukong

Hot heads always bothered him in schools, being surrounded by lackeys, thinking they were awesome because of the sport they played or something else stupid. Of course most hot heads didn't actually have fire sprouting from the top of their head.

When Felix turned around, he found himself staring at what appeared to be a monkey with foot tall flames flaring out of the top of his head. Aside from the fire show between his ears, he wasn't much to look at. His height minus the flames was a little under four feet tall, his body had white fur covering his chest, legs, forearms, and around his face. What wasn't covered in white fur was orange-red, like a nasty patch of rust. He had golden swirl patterns covering his knees, elbows, shoulders, and part of his chest. His toes and fingers were cobalt blue, as were his eyes. The whites of his eyes were yellow and he had a large red brow over both of them. His monkey-like face had an impish grin from ear to ear. Behind him was a small group of Gardevoir, half a dozen admiring him.

Felix definitely remembered the name of this flare top Pokémon, Infernape. It appeared to be that this hot air head was the one who spoke earlier. "I imagine that was your Needle Arm, and I have to say that it wasn't overly impressive, not like a real attack." His voice sounded screechy and playful, like the monkey he was. Felix knew that this idiot was trying to goad him into becoming enraged, but he knew better than to talk back or he would just be fanning the flames. Just stay quiet and uninteresting, and he'll move on to something more interesting.

"Not much of a talker is he?" he goaded. His small group of girlfriends giggled at that. "Where did he come from, Sylvia? Doesn't he know that he should be talking back when spoken to?" He glanced at Sylvia as he said this. It was then that Felix noticed a small difference between Sylvia and the other Gardevoir. In her hair at the back of her head, she had a small strip of lace, white against the mint green hair. She automatically replied "Kalos". Kalos. That was definitely another region that he remembered. He vaguely knew that was the normal location his "species" was from, the perfect cover up.

"Kalos, nice place, good food. Still, he's awfully silent, what's his name?" Felix was starting to get nervous. The flames on the stranger's head were starting to rise, fueled by his curiosity. He had to speak soon, normally, not mentally. "Felix." The look on the fire monkey's face looked astonished that maybe this bulky figure could speak. He composed himself and replied "Well my name is Wukong, I'm trying to find the other competitors in the Welcoming Tournament. I was wondering if one of them was you, but you obviously don't have what it takes." The name Wukong reminded him of something, but he was angry that he told him he didn't have what it takes to be part of the tournament. Felix kept his calm, but his face began to tremble in anger. Luckily, Sylvia spoke for him, otherwise he might have lost his cool.

"He's every bit as good as you, Wukong. Go bother someone else for a change." That was a wonderful retort, better than anything that he could have said. Wukong's face began to look furious at that remark, his fiery mane growing a foot taller. He then calmed down and glared at Felix and said "Well I hope I get to beat the both of you in the tournament." After he said this, he turned around and began to walk towards the edge with his group. The pink path began to bend towards him, preventing him from falling into the dark abyss below.

After he left, the comforting silence began to appear, blanketing the blow Wukong's words had left. Sylvia then faced Felix and returned to speaking in his mind " _He's a big bully, so full of himself. He probably came here to see me, but he saw the perfect opportunity to insult you. He's always trying to get my attention_ , _thinking I'll fall for him like the other Gardevoir do."_ It was comforting to know that she didn't like him either and that she agreed with Felix, but she said Gardevoir, which means the species names must have carried over. That was something he was not expecting.

However, there were more pressing matters, like the few days left before he would have to participate in the tournament. _"What are we going to do next?" "You're going to need more than just your Grass type power to compete well. I'll have to help you unlock another one of your powers. After that, you'll need to learn on your own, as I can't help you uncover your potential anymore."_ That was unfortunate, he wasn't sure how that would was going to work. Sylvia walked up to him and held his right hand again. He felt a tingling sensation like last time, but this power felt angrier, being filled with raw strength more than a will to grow. It was extremely potent, yielding to no other power. It was not a pleasant power to be coursing through him, but it was determined.

Another punching bag began to form in front of him, much larger this time. It stood at about eight feet tall, dominating the practice arena. Felix knew that he would have to work harder to take this one down, so he began to work himself up with repeated blows on the massive training doll. This time, he began to focus his strength into his fists, fueling them with his anger at Wukong for insulting him. His fists began to glow with an orange-red glow, growing brighter the more he punched. It was beginning to overwhelm him, the raw power that he felt behind his blows. The doll had absolutely no chance to survive this assault, beginning to show cracks much sooner than its smaller brother. It could not hold under the strength behind his fists, as it shattered into small pink shards again.

Immediately the shards began to form into a collection of pink bubbles that began to attack him. The charged towards him at high-speeds, leaving pink tails of dust in their wake. He would need to beat them again to succeed this time. He began to smash through the pink orbs one by one, leaving no orb untouched by his massive fists, as a sound like shattering glass began to fill the air. As he kept punching them, he started to feel the power in his body being spent by the massive effort of trying to increase the power behind his fists. As he shattered the last of the floating orbs, he almost fell over in exhaustion from the massive fight he just fought against the arenas nifty tricks. _"Let's take a short break and then work on some defensive maneuvers instead."_ Felix couldn't agree more.


	7. Chapter 7: Defense

Chapter 7: Defense

Strangely enough, the hardest thing about his new form was sitting down. He couldn't find a comfortable way to sit down, as it would likely cut off his tail if he tried. After several attempts, he decided that the best way to try and rest from the intense training would be to lie down face first. It was an unusually peculiar way to try and relax with a shell bearing weight on top of him, but it was comfortable enough.

Sylvia simply sat down in front of Felix and pulled out a small red cake and a metal water bottle from the bag around her shoulder, similar to the one he ate earlier. He was wondering what was in the bag and was glad that there might be something that could revitalize him. The first bite was spicy, and sent a wave of determination and strength throughout his body. He finished the odd cake, washing it down liberally with water, and was relieved to feel the power fully returned to his form.

Now was time to ask questions, mentally of course. " _What are the rules in the tournament?"_ " _The tournament is a two vs. two with sixteen teams of two. Each round half of the teams are eliminated by fainting during the course of a battle. You and I will be on one team and another newcomer and partner on the other. You can still fall to friendly fire, so I think you need some help in defensive maneuvers to avoid getting hit by strong foes or my attacks. Let's begin."_

After saying that she rose quickly. Felix tried to move as gracefully as she did, but he had to tip over on his side before he could get up. Once he got up, Sylvia placed her travel bag on the ground and took an offensive stance. As soon as he looked at her, three pink/blue orbs began to form between her hands. Her eyes were closed, but he knew that she could sense him. Once the orbs grew to be about basketball sized, Sylvia opened her eyes and threw the orbs toward Felix.

Felix was not prepared for this, so all he could was raise his arms in defense and hope that he could survive the hit. Soon after he raised his arms, the blobs crashed into his arms. They hit much harder than he thought they would, but they also drained his strength quickly. Once the third one hit, Felix was pushed on too his back, unable to withstand the force pushing against him. Great, just what he thought would happen.

He was now upside down with his shell holding him up. Since his opponent in battle was not going to show mercy, he knew that a fast way to recover from this position would be required. He tried shifting his weight around until he figured that to his right was the best way to roll. He managed to roll on his right and then stand upright. " _Good, you have a method to recover from an intense super effective blow. I recommend that you go faster, I didn't' hit you again so that I could inform you better."_

Super effective? Felix knows that it means certain types are more powerful than others against other types, but with the eighteen different types and each Pokémon being one or two types, it would be best not to try and know all of the different effectiveness there were. In this scenario, Psychic types were effective against Fighting types. Now it dawned on him how unfair this match up would be. He got into a defensive stance with his arms raised to try again. " _Try again, this time evade my Psyshock."_

Okay, now he had to evade an attack. That will be difficult, as his shell and armor plating would weigh him down. She closed her eyes again and form the light blue/pink orbs again. Once she opened her eyes, he prepared to jump to the right to evade the oncoming projectiles. When the orbs were only a few feet in front of him, he jumped. The orbs missed him, causing an explosion of pink particulates were he used to be. His legs were more powerful than expected, causing his jump to put him almost four feet in the air. Not very high, but it would be unstable to try landing on his feet. He landed in a roll this time to continue the fluidity of movement.

If he was still human, he was pretty sure he couldn't have pulled off that roll. Maybe his transformation helped him move like a Chesnaught should. Training would not be as hard as he thought it would be. " _Good, now try to stand your ground to this one"_ her voice chided in his head. Whatever "this one" was would not be easy. Sylvia began to spark with yellow electricity and then one large bolt began flying towards him. Thunderbolt, probably not as painful as Psyshock, but the tactic would have to be different.

Felix stood his ground with his feet firmly rooted to the ground to try and divert the electricity. The bolt hit him in the middle of his furry chest with a strong tingling sensation, but the bulk of the bolt's current went from the point of impact into the ground through his feet. Thankfully it didn't hurt nearly as much as an electric shock to the chest should, probably because his body was meant to direct electricity in a way to avoid pain.

" _You're a natural. Now try to block with your power this time rather than your body."_ Okay, now he was probably going to fail, as he had no idea how to block with his power instead of himself. While trying to focus on the power he used during Power-Up Punch, Sylvia was beginning to glow with a soft pink light, slowly growing brighter. Suddenly red energy began to flow from his hands into a red disc about seven feet across in front of him, providing him with some cover from whatever she was about to do. From behind his shield, he saw the light around Sylvia become intensely bright, pushing his barrier intensely with the raw power of her radiance. The red shield held for the duration of her attack, but faded once she stopped.

 _"Interesting. I've never seen someone use Quick Guard before. I thought you would use Protect, but that was something rather different. You are very unique to say the least. Think fast."_ Think fast? What did she mean by that? Suddenly he realized that she was forming a large purple and black orb between her hands. It sparked with dark energy as she was charging it. Felix was not quite sure what to do when she would hurl the Shadow Ball at his face. Before he could decide an action, she hurled her malignant projectile at his face. But when it made contact with his face, no pain ensued.

Instead, the ball merely dissipated without any harm or force applied. Sylvia's face looked shocked. " _That's new. I don't know what happened. The only explanation would be that you're bulletproof, something I've only heard of." "What does being bulletproof mean?"_ It sounded insanely cool to be Bulletproof, but it may not be as awesome as he thought it would be. _" bulletproof means that you are immune to ballistic moves, like Seed Bomb, Shadow Ball, or Bullet Seed. I'm not sure how it works, but it is evident that you are indeed bulletproof if you can withstand my Shadow Ball with no problem. It's a rare ability of Chesnaughts, not often seen by most battlers." "Shall we continue the defensive training?" "Sure, I'll just have to remember you're immune to Shadow Ball."_

After that Felix had to endure more Psyshocks, Thunderbolts, and Dazzling Gleams, but it was difficult to keep up, since she had no particular order in which attack she would use. After what must have been hours of defensive training, Felix fell flat on his face in exhaustion. He simply could not dodge, block, or endure any more blows. He had done well in trying to survive her onslaught, but his whole body ached in places where Psyshocks landed and Thunderbolts hit. He was surprised that he hadn't exploded form the force or fried to a crisp by all of the attacks he endured, but enough was enough. It was time to quit before he hurt any more.

He glanced up at Sylvia and saw that she was pretty tired as well, panting from the effort of trying to keep a barrage of attacks trained on Felix for the duration of their stay. " _I think it's time to head home. You've done well for your first day, and I hope you feel more ready for this tournament now." "I think you've done well in trying to train me today and I look forward to continue training with you. It has been quite a day. Let's go."_ She smiled and held Felix's hand as he pulled himself back onto his feet. She grabbed her tan bag and then they both walked side by side as they went home to prepare for tomorrow.


	8. Chapter 8: Curry

Chapter 8: Curry

Felix and Sylvia made the trek to Sylvia's house in silence, both worn out with the intensive practice they just did. The sun was setting on their left as they traveled. It must be winter here, Felix thought. It wasn't much later than four in the afternoon he pondered. As they arrived, Felix opened the door to her house and followed her in, carefully navigating the narrow doorway. _" I'll begin working on dinner. You need to go rest. It was a tough first day for you. I'll tell you when I'm done."_ Sylvia told him as she busily began taking out cooking supplies for dinner.

Felix wanted to help her, but he was exhausted at the effort of prepping for the tournament. Felix walked towards the hallway to the right and took the first door to his left into his guest room. Felix relaxed himself slowly on to the bed face first as to avoid breaking the steel frame with his strength and weight. Felix lied dozily on the white sheets as he heard Sylvia getting out pans and cutting up food to prepare dinner. I wonder what dinner will be, he thought. He didn't know what to expect from a Pokémon chef in this part of reality.

He laid there with random ideas crossing his mind in a sort of semi-sleep. Time slipped by without any real perception. Thoughts moved hazily as he drifted through the time it took for Sylvia to prepare Dinner. After a while, he began to emerge from his partial slumber to find a familiar smell. The smell reminded Felix of curry, but that couldn't be, curry was earthen food. The smell made Felix alert, causing him to get up much faster than he thought he would.

He rose from his bed and walked out of the room through the open door with vigor at the reminiscent smell. He found Sylvia working in the kitchen, occasionally stirring a pan filled with a creamy yellow liquid and what looked like a steam cooker behind her releasing puffs of steam. Sylvia turned her attention to Felix in confusion. "Why do you look so alarmed?" she spoke. Why he was alarmed was a mystery to himself, the best he could figure was that he thought he went back home and all of this was a dream, but he was relieved to still see Sylvia. Felix didn't know how she could tell he was alarmed so quickly. His face felt blank like always. Maybe she was sensing his alarm rather than reading his face. He remembered something about Gardevoir being able to sense emotions.

"Sorry, it's just that I smelled the food and it reminded me of being at home." She seemed unimpressed at his explanation, but did not push further. He felt much calmer after finding out what Sylvia was cooking. It appeared to be Coconut Curry, one of his favorite meals. "Could I help you with anything? I normally help with the cooking at home." "Sure, you watch the curry while I get out the dishes." Sylvia handed Felix the large metal spoon she was stirring the curry with. It was a bit harder to hold it with his large fingers, but he managed.

He examined the curry closely while she got out the plates and silverware. The curry looked to have everything that it normally would, bamboo shoots, the distinctive spice mix, and even small pieces of what appeared to be chicken. Whether or not it was chicken was something Felix wasn't sure about. He knew that Pokémon would eat other Pokémon, so maybe it would be some small bird Pokémon that he would be eating. The thought made Felix a bit queasy, as he was opposed to eating Pokémon. They were too human like, able to express complex emotions and make choices like humans.

"Okay, the tables set, let's eat." Sylvia called from the dining room. Felix lumbered into the dining room, away from the entry hall, and examined the room closely. There was a simple round table with four wooden chairs around it. The table had a white table cloth on it and was set for two guests. A small silver chandelier provided all of the light in the room. Sylvia was seated on the chair farthest from the kitchen, gazing at him expectantly with her ruby eyes. The wooden chairs were probably comfortable, but Felix couldn't sit down with his tail and shell to worry about.

He walked to where his plate was set, moving the chair out of the way for his convenience, and kneeled down to pray with his arms folded and eyes closed. Felix always prayed before dinner, he had always done it as long as he could remember. He opened his eyes to see Sylvia staring at him intently with an inquisitive glare. Her gaze was making Felix feel like she was examining him on a perspective deeper than plain vision. "Why are you staring at me?" Felix asked. She shook her head and explained "Sorry, it's nothing." It was obviously not nothing, but if she wouldn't question him, he wouldn't question her.

He got up, grabbed his plate and walked back into the kitchen. He then loaded his plate with rice and curry, grabbed a glass and filled it with water, and returned to the dining room. He found Sylvia with a full plate of food despite not seeing her get up. He placed his food on the table and dowsed the pile with soy sauce and began eating it with his fork in hand. It tasted almost exactly like he thought curry should, evenly spiced and with plenty of saltiness from the soy sauce. The chunks were meat-like, but he guessed it wasn't a Pokémon. He had been famished from the continuous battle that took place less than an hour ago and wolfed down his plate of curry faster than he wanted to.

After he finished his plate he looked at Sylvia to find her slowly eating her curry. He was wondering what day it was, as he hoped to not have slept for days after he came here. He also wanted to know how many days he would have to prepare for the tournament. He built up his courage and asked Sylvia "What day is it?" She calmly responded "Monday, January 4th" That was weird, either he has slept for an entire year or time flows differently when you get teleported through all of time and space. It also meant that he only had until January 8th to get ready for the tournament. "So we have four days for me to get ready for the tournament, correct?" "Yes, I just hope you'll be ready by that time." Sylvia said. Having his question answered, Felix began to examine the photographs on the left wall.

One of them caught his attention. It had a smooth silver frame and the picture inside was interesting. It appeared to be a Gardevoir linked arm in arm with another Pokémon, both only visible from the waist up. The Gardevoir somehow looked older than Sylvia, but more calm and collected. The other Pokémon had a more bird like appearance, having a beak and arms with rough gray skin and three clawed fingers. A large section of its body was covered with a beige plumage with a small section of yellow at its waist just above its red torso. His beige plumage extended down its back into two large plumes. It has yellow eyes with cobalt blue irises. It was intimidating, but had a calm expression on its face. It was definitely a Blaziken with a Gardevoir by its side, he could see golden bands around their left wrists.

"Who are they?" Felix inquired. "They're my parents, Carol and Mark." He guessed that the Blaziken was Mark and the Gardevoir Carol. "Do you have any siblings?" Her response was unattached, going through the mental list of family members in her head. "Yes, I have two brothers and a sister. My brother Victor works at the gym in Dewford town while my other brother William works in the Lavaridge town forgery. My sister Winter lives in Mauville city. She enjoys the energy of the city. My parents still live here in Mossdeep city." "Do you miss your family sometimes?" Her face fell a little from the smile she normally wore as she answered. "Yeah, sometimes, but its fine. Are you missing home?"

Felix wasn't sure how to respond to that. He had lived there all of his life, but it was never his favorite life. He would miss his family and his normal life, but he was in the world of his dreams. He had often thought of what it would be like to escape it all and come to somewhere else, but how could he? He couldn't abandon his family like that, just going off with no goodbyes. "Yeah, I'll miss home, but there's no way for me to go back yet. I'll have to make do with living here for now." "Do you have a… special one?" That was a new one to Felix. He never heard someone else use that term, more often hearing something like 'girlfriend'.

He thought that girlfriends were often meant to satisfy desire rather than be true companions (he'd seen enough of it at school), so he used the term 'special one' as the term for a girl that was his best and dearest friend and closest thing to a romantic partner. Normally he would have such a girl, but he hadn't had a special one in a while, not for two years. "No" he replied bluntly. She looked a little sad to hear his answer, maybe feeling the pain of its truth. It was just the truth of his situation, he has and would have wait for the right one in the meantime (he never found them, they always had found him).

He announced "I'm going to bed; I need to get ready for tomorrows training." She seemed to be thinking about what he said, her face still somewhat somber. "Okay Felix, goodnight." "Goodnight Sylvia." He replied. He got off his knees, placed his dishes in the sink, and walked back into his room. He laid down on his bed and began to go over all that happened today. None of it could be a coincidence, he was a firm believer of that. He had seen too many events click into place perfectly to know that blind luck hadn't brought him here to this fantastic world. Encountering Sylvia only confirmed it even more, as Gardevoir was one of his favorite Pokémon (he wasn't confident in telling people as they often got the wrong idea). He just hoped that whatever would happen over the next few weeks would level out to a new normal. Felix then slipped into a dreamless sleep, anxious for what would be in store for him at the tournament this Saturday.


	9. Chapter 9: Dr Goo

Chapter 9: Dr. Goo

It was a long week of training before they made it to Friday. Every day had started with a breakfast Poffin, then an offensive training session with a lunch Poffin at the end, then wrapping it up in some defensive training. After that it was Dinner with a Q&A to fill the time until bed. Their talks were often about his life, as Sylvia was intrigued by a society were battling was seen as a bad thing. To her, battling was the best way to get stronger and relieve stress.

What interested her most had to be his religion. She kept asking details about church and God with intense curiosity. She also gazed at him whenever he prayed for some reason, as she would quickly look away and never asked about it. He just wished he had his scriptures with him, as Sylvia couldn't find it and there wasn't another copy in this world. In return for him answering her questions, he would ask her about her life. He understood why she was such a great teacher after Wednesday, as Sylvia told him she was a school teacher and that battling was part of the curriculum. With all of this new info on his mind, he was able to focus more on his training and be better prepared for tomorrow's tournament.

After eating his Friday noon Poffin, (Sylvia told him that Poffins were better at returning his strength than eating berries raw or processed) Two other Pokémon walked onto the practice platform, the platform expanding as they stepped on. He was about to ask them why they were here when Sylvia began to mentally tell him _"I thought you might need some practice in battle before the tournament, so I invited two of my friends to battle us."_ He recognized the taller one as Thomas with his blade arms and helmet, but the other one was new.

They were about three and a half feet tall, only reaching Thomas's torso. They looked feminine, as they had a leafy, dress-like skirt in the shape of a tulip and a collection of large leaves that looked like a hat, with a large red flower on top. She had two light green leaves that looked like hair extending to her shoulders. She had white skin on her face and torso with almond shaped orange eyes and a golden cross covering her shoulders. Her arms were two large tear shaped dark green leaves. The arena was filled with a floral scent that was intoxicatingly relaxing.

Her eyes glimmered in a way that Felix knew were of someone who liked him (girls often did that until they tried to talk to him, as they would find he was weird). She was a pretty Lilligant, but was obviously attracted to him in a way that worried him. _"Who's the Lilligant?" "She's my friend Lily, she came from Unova to meet you. I think she likes you, so she may go easy on you in battle."_ He found the name Lily hilarious but knew he should try to avoid laughing in front of her. Unova was another region that was similar to America that often would visit other regions.

Sylvia only confirmed that Lily would go easy on him, but Thomas did not look willing to give Felix the same benefit, looking at him with a glare that showed a mixture of envy and concealed hatred. Sylvia told him that Thomas was only a friend, but Thomas obviously thought more of their relationship. Whenever Felix walked by his house to the Gym in the morning, he would show deep displeasure in the time Felix was spending with 'his girl' with a nudge or offensive glare.

"Is everybody ready to battle?" Sylvia asked. "Yes" was the reply from the other three battlers. All of them assumed defensive positions. The tension became thick as all waited for the battle to commence. The platform began to extend skywards to form a protective bubble around the ensuing battle. Then Sylvia said "Begin" and all of the tension evaporated as each contender was preparing for the ensuing struggle.

Sylvia closed her eyes and glowed weakly as she used Calm Mind to boost her power. Lily began to do an odd quivering dance that was making her move faster. Thomas was extending his elbow blades and making hypnotic motions as he waved his glowing blue arms in a Swords Dance. Felix flexed his arms to begin sending power through his taught muscles to increase his own power and defense with Bulk Up.

Thomas began running towards Felix and began to repeatedly punch him in the chest with rapid blows in a Close Combat. As Thomas punched Felix, Lily began to spin rapidly and release large pink petals in a massive column towards Sylvia. Felix was getting beat-up by Thomas, but was unable to feel pain through his thick, taut muscles. He gathered green energy into his fists, extended needles and began to punch Thomas in his torso. Thomas was taking the blows harder than normal, as Close Combat lowered his defense.

Lily was struggling to hit Sylvia as she was directing the petals around her with her Psychic. Lily's Petal Dance faded, allowing Sylvia to collect pink energy between her hands to use Psyshock. Her orbs of psychic energy were then lobbed at Lily, scoring a direct hit on her abdomen. Lily went flying from the momentum of the projectiles and collided with a wall of the pink bubble. She collapsed from the force and did not stir. As Felix had diverted his attention, Thomas's right arm was glowing light blue.

When Felix looked back at Thomas, he was slicing the air with his glowing blade, forming crescent shaped blades that were heading for Felix's face. Felix immediately began to make a Quick Guard to prevent them from hitting him. Thomas relentlessly kept throwing psychic blades at Felix to break down the barrier. As the red shield began to crack under the stress of Thomas's Psycho Cuts, Felix began to use one of his newfound powers. Earth brown energy gathered between his hands, forming a mud-like projectile. The barrier broke and Felix lobbed his large Mud Shot at Thomas. It connected with his face and covered it, removing his ability to see.

Felix began to charge up a Seed Bomb when Thomas wiped his face and suddenly went berserk. He shouted his war cry and began to run towards Felix, his sword arm glowing dark purple. Felix threw his Seed Bomb at the advancing figure, landing at his feet. Thomas was thrown to the side by the explosion, twirling in the air as he bounced off of the pink arena ground. Thomas rose quickly absolutely livid, his white face and red eyes pulled in an intense sneer. Felix had seen people mad before, but Thomas was on the next level of furious. Thomas got up swiftly and began to run towards Felix much faster than he thought those thin legs could carry him. His arms were purple again in a Night Slash as he began to slash Felix furiously with his dark blades, tearing through the power that Felix used to Bulk Up. His blade arms began to drive intense pain into his chest, as Thomas slashed back and forth. After slashing a couple times, he began to repeatedly punch him in rapid succession.

Felix was having trouble holding on to consciousness, but was finally able to draw enough power for a well-placed Power-Up Punch. He drove his orange fist into Thomas's chest just below the thorn, successfully halting his onslaught. Thomas recovered quickly, but before he could do anything, Sylvia called out "STOP IT!" Felix and Thomas instantly lowered their fists and looked at Sylvia and Lily. Their faces were aghast, horrified at what they had witnessed. "Thomas, what's wrong? You were absolutely out of control out there. What made you snap?" Sylvia questioned.

Thomas drew his face to appear unconcerned and replied "Nothing, I was just showing Felix what it would be like to face a relentless foe as part of his training." Felix knew that what he was really mad about was him training with Sylvia, but he never expected this much unbridled anger aimed at him. He didn't want to hurt Thomas, but he had to train with her to have a chance of making it in this world. As he thought about this, Sylvia and Thomas began to look scared for some reason. Something was off, Felix could feel it as well.

Suddenly in the middle of the battle field, a large golden ring had appeared out of nowhere. The ring was filled with a hole of inky darkness, spilling on to the arena floor. It resonated with an alien feeling, similar to what Felix experienced as he came to this world. The darkness began to swirl and then deposited a small, light purple blob. Once the blob came out, the ring winked out of existence, leaving the purple ball of goo behind. Felix walked towards the small blob, having memory of what I might be.

The purple blob looked slug-like in body shape. The top half was a lighter shade of purple and had two pairs of long slimy horn-like structures. Two small beady eyes were closed above where the two different purples met. It then had five green circles around the middle with the largest two appearing to the sides of his mouth. The bottom half was darker in shade. It looked like it was hurt, fitfully turning and moaning in pain. Sylvia walked towards it and examined it with Felix. He remembered the name for this creature being Goomy, but this one was just in so much pain for traveling however it did, looking extremely out of its element. It probably came here in the same manner as Felix, being whisked away from home with no goodbyes.

Suddenly it began to murmur something. It took Felix a moment to hear it, but it definitely said "Dr. Goo" before going silent again. Another mystery had just arrived, Dr. Goo.


	10. Chapter 10: Guardians

Chapter 10: Guardians

As Felix was examining the newcomer Dr. Goo, two Pokémon flew into the gym and were heading for the practice arena he was standing on. They were moving with an air of authority, floating through the spacious gym in a beeline for where Dr. Goo was. The battle bubble quickly dissolved as they approached. They landed on the platform in front of Felix and Sylvia with a resounding thud, allowing the four of them to examine each other. Felix was examining these authoritarian Pokémon with memories of only one of the creatures.

The one on the right looked like a large, steel blue robotic arachnid, with a central body and four large arms with claws at the ends, all four touching the platform. It had a large silver x shape over much of its face, with piercing red and black eyes under the arches and a large mouth on its bottom half. His companion was weirder, appearing at first to merely be a floating overcoat.

Upon further examination, the cyan floating coat had a black head with a yellow face that resembled a power outlet. His eyes were electric blue, active with thought. He also had three silver rings on top of his head that had a large collection of blue sparks continuously fizzling. He remembered the larger one being called Metagross, but no name came to his mind about the electric friend.

The two of them were looking at Dr. Goo, examining him with a curious glare. They then began to exchange glances with Sylvia, mental words and snippets occasionally heard by Felix. Strange terms were used, words like _"Guardians…Prophecy…Shadows…"_ Sylvia and the strangers conversed for a few moments before she turned to Felix and mentally spoke with him. " _Felix, I'm sorry, but I have to help Archie and Nikola with this new development. Go home and rest, you'll need to be ready for tomorrow."_

Before Felix could respond, she picked up Dr. Goo, waved at Felix, and disappeared in a flash of blue light, along with Archie and Nikola, whichever they were. After the excitement of battle and everything that followed, Felix could go for a rest at Sylvia's house. However, Felix had some questions for Thomas. "Who are the Guardians?" Thomas looked up with a concealed scowl from what must have been a very interesting piece of ground with his arm blades crossed. "The Guardians are the main form of protection for the city. They often have to work when a crisis arrives. I haven't seen something this strange in a long time." He thought about asking just how strange it had gotten before, but decided against it. "Where did they go?" "Probably to the lab, they need to try and understand what happened here." "Okay, who was the one with the electric hair?"

Thomas seemed to understand the confusion Felix had, his eyes appearing more sympathetic than annoyed. "Yeah, he's Nikola. I don't know where he came from or what he is nor does anyone else. Nobody knows how he got here or why he came here. He's a cool dude, but doesn't get out much. He often stays with Archie, almost never leaving his side. Anyway, you need to rest for tomorrow. Hope you do well in the tournament." Thomas and Lily began to battle again, pausing only to wave at Felix as he slowly walked out of the gym.

Felix thought on all that was happening as of late and how all of it was connected. The sun was slowly setting at the end of the cobblestone road that he had walked up often to go to the gym for training with Sylvia. He took the last turn to the left and walked into Sylvia's house. For whatever reason, nobody ever locked their doors here. Sylvia told him that they often trusted each other enough that it was no problem to have no locks. Felix was fine with it, but it always unnerved him.

He got inside of the house, went to the kitchen, and began to prepare his own dinner. Felix had helped Sylvia prepare dinner before, after he had gotten used to the drain of training. He grabbed his ingredients and began to prepare Fried Rice for himself (He was glad to have found out that the idea of eating Pokémon was revolting to Sylvia, so no creatures were harmed in the making of his dinner). He finished preparing it, grabbed some Occa Berry juice from the fridge, poured himself a glass, and then kneeled down in prayer before eating his dinner.

As he ate in silence, he kept thinking on what was going to happen because of Dr. Goo. He had come in a manner that was identical to Felix, so there was some connection between him and Felix. He also got the impression that regardless of what Sylvia may say, the nuclear incident did have something to do with all of this. It also made him nervous, not sure of what to expect from such a disaster. He drained his glass, unaware of the juice's spicy chocolate-like flavor (Felix wouldn't have drunk it if Sylvia didn't recommend it before the tournament). After almost choking on the spicy juice, He began to clean up his dinner, wishing to not have Sylvia clean up after him. After tidying up, he went to his guest bedroom and lied down on his bed.

His mind began to wander aimlessly in thought, thinking about how Sylvia was a Guardian. Was Sylvia being so nice to him merely because she was trying to do her job? Why hadn't she taken him to the lab to try and find the source of this problem? Was that what she was smiling about when he chose the name Guardians of Light? Questions appeared in his mind, clouding his vision and easing him into the pleasant confines of sleep. He followed their lead blissfully, hoping to find reprieve from his troubled state.


	11. Chapter 11: Home

Chapter 11: Home

What showed up in his head as a result was anything but relaxing. As far as Felix could discern from how he dreamed, he thought that his brain had been working on a visual masterpiece all week. Normally, it was something fun, like flying, traveling through fictitious worlds, or even being inside of a video game (Pokémon being one of the more common ones to enjoy). For whatever reason, maybe because of all the crazy he had just gone through in this week alone, he was having a nightmare. If he enjoyed his dreams, he would always dread his nightmares.

This one began simply enough, taking place back in his old house in Fort Collins, Colorado. He was painting the basement in preparation for the move (Even in his dreams, he was diligent at doing his chores). Suddenly, he heard someone running down the stairs, rocketing towards Felix at untold speed. They suddenly grabbed Felix by the shoulders and turned him around to see who was disturbing his work. He was looking into the crazed eyes of his mother, icy blue to reflect the harsh cold of winter. "Where are you!?" she demanded, with such urgency that is frightened Felix.

He felt like he was ten years old again, replying with "I'm right here mother." "No you're not! Where are you?!" she screamed back. Felix was getting scared, something was wrong. She began to shake Felix "Come back here you liar. You lazy, worthless, disappointing liar! You left your brothers here alone, come back!" Somehow, Felix knew that this was something that was related to his sudden disappearance. "I'm in a different world now. I want to come back, but I can't. I didn't want to come here!" he pleaded. Mom just got furious. She reeled back her right hand and swiftly slapped Felix.

"Liar! You know what duties you have to perform and you know that you should never leave. You are my son, you should come home. WHERE ARE YOU?" The words cut Felix a lot sharper than anything Thomas could try, and that slap made him feel more worthless than anything. Warm tears began to flood his face, as he pleaded with his mom to stop, that he wanted to come home, and that he was trying to come back. "Liar, Liar, LIAR!" she screamed as she continued to smack Felix relentlessly.

In all of his years living at home, he knew that nothing would make his mom angrier than trying to lie to her. His strength was fading as he tried to resist the onslaught from his mother who thought that he was lying to her. Her slaps scathed across his face, leaving gashes that never bleed and closed seamlessly. The image of her sober, anger driven eyes slowly faded into a foreboding, formless, shadow. Darkness never scared him, always a way to slip unnoticed from hostile situations.

This void of visual perception was different; it felt malevolent, angry even. He could hear whispers from the ever surrounding darkness, hearing it repeating in a trance "You will never escape. You can never forget…" the voices were calling to him, trying to claim him as one of them. One voice broke above the rest, sounding like a malicious version of his voice, intelligent, powerful, yet venomous. "I will find you, brother. I always will…" Felix woke to a start, drenched in cold sweat.

He never felt this terrified of a dream before, only one nightmare when he was eight could even compare. His eyes at first thought they saw a large, unblinking, sky blue eye watching him sleep. He blinked and the unusual sight vanished, replaced by the sight of a friendlier face. Seeing Sylvia's ruby red eyes allowed Felix to relax, reminding him that all he just experienced was a dream. It did however stir questions in his mind, knowing that she never came into the room since the first day. "What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice half exhausted. " _I was coming home when I felt your fear and pain. With how intense it was, I thought you were getting attacked by something, or worse. What happened? No ordinary dream could frighten you that much surely."_ Felix was starting to relax, his heart beat decreasing as he began to mentally converse with Sylvia.

" _I dreamed I was back at home, working in the basement. Suddenly my mom appeared and kept raving about how I was a liar, how worthless I am and pleading for me to come home. I tried to tell her that I wanted to come home but couldn't_ , _only to have here start slapping me and scratching my face. I've never seen her so enraged before, screaming at me with untold anger."_ Sylvia seemed to take in what Felix was saying, unsure of how to help him with all that he was feeling. They looked at each other unblinking for a moment, absorbing all that he told her.

Felix never told anyone about his mother, most of them wouldn't believe him. His mother was firm in her commands, but never really empathetic. He never felt a true connection with her, often feeling insignificant in front of her. He was on the verge of crying after he told her about it. When Felix was about to shed tears, Sylvia reached out her right arm and began to rub his head. The rubbing was soothing to Felix; it always helped him calm down. Normally it was when someone was running their fingers through his hair that he would relax, but her velvet touch on his smooth helmet-like head made the pain and fear of the nightmare begin to fade, hiding in his memory to bother him another day.

He felt more at home in this odd and amazing part of reality. How Sylvia knew what would put him at ease puzzled Felix. " _How do you know the best way to calm me down? I never told you about it."_ She looked into his eyes, her gaze friendly and inviting. " _I'm not sure, it's kind of an instinct. I can sense pain and understand how to relieve it. Is there anything else you want to tell me before you go back to sleep?"_ Felix wasn't sure if he should share with her the darkness and the whole 'brother' thing. It was probably just another frightening image. It troubled him, but it most likely was nothing.

He was however anxious about the battles tomorrow. " _I don't know if I'm ready for the tournament tomorrow. I wasn't able to do well in our practice battle at all."_ She smiled at Felix and stopped rubbing his head. _"You'll be fine Felix, you keep a clear head in battle and know what you're doing. Most of the other competitors will be scared having to fight in a strange place. You will do great, maybe even win the tournament."_ Felix wasn't quite as sure, he didn't know who the third competitor here in Mossdeep was and probably couldn't beat Wukong. Still, he had to see tomorrow in order to be sure. " _Okay, thanks Sylvia. Good night."_ She got off her knees and walked to the door. She turned off the lights, looked at Felix and said " _I know you are here for a reason. I'm not sure if it has something to do with what you believe or something else, but there is something special about you. Even though this place is far from where you came from, I hope you feel at home here and wish to do well with you in the tournament."_ After that she closed the door and went to her bed, resting for the battles tomorrow.


	12. Chapter 12: Tournament

Chapter 12: Tournament

Felix lied there contemplating on all that Sylvia had said, trying to piece it together with all that was happening. He thought her words were kind, knowing all that he had been through. Still, tomorrow was going to be a big day, whatever would happen. Felix was once again able to drift into the realm of unconsciousness, away from all of his troubles and stress. He woke up refreshed, ready for another day of living in a world where he would be expected to fight with other people that he never met before. He prayed that he wouldn't get absolutely destroyed in the tournament, not sure how well he would do. He got up and walked into the kitchen to have breakfast before his face would get smashed.

Sylvia was ready to get Felix prepared for the big day, gathering Poffins to help him keep his strength throughout the tournament. They quickly ate some of the Poffins, hoping to delay the necessity of going to the tournament. After downing a spicy glass of Occa Berry juice, Sylvia asked him "Are you ready to go?" "Yes" he replied, hoping to take an edge off of his nervousness. They both headed out the door and began to walk towards the gym, where Felix would have to fight the contenders of this tournament.

Unlike when he and Sylvia walked to the gym in the morning, other Pokémon were headed towards the gym as well. He could see a vast collection of green, white, yellow, and red with sprinklings of other colors heading inside the gym to await the battles that would commence. There were humanoids, quadrupeds, and even some bird-like Pokémon would swoop in through the tall gym entrances. Seeing all of those Pokémon coming to an event where he would be featured made him extra nervous. He was trying to prevent himself from hyperventilating as he walked through the entrance towards the gym where he would do battle with other newcomers to the region.

His agitation was about to climax, being surrounded by so many strangers that were intently watching him. He didn't like getting attention, especially from a bunch of people that he never seen before in an alien world that he only recently became a part of. As the crowds were jostling Felix around, he felt Sylvia's hand grabbing on to his right index finger. He felt much more confident about all that would be happening soon, knowing that Sylvia would help Felix through these tough challenges. He normally didn't like getting touched by someone, but Sylvia was more comfortable to be around, his only friend in this strange world.

They followed the crowd into the gym, the vastness of space around him still amazing him as they walked towards the tournament arena with the other competitors. The crowds divided and headed towards the seating areas in preparation to watch the events unfold. Felix had no luck in hoping to hide, as he and Sylvia would need to step onto the field with the thirty other battlers. He looked at all of them, remembering the different names of their species, but some names did not come to him. Wukong and his fiery mane were visible form halfway across the gym, so Felix knew he was here. He looked at all of the gym seating, as different Pokémon would be sitting in different seats.

Some were chair-like, some were just large areas to lie down on, and some where perches for birds to roost on. On the other side of the earthen battle field, three Pokémon sat as judges, separate from the rest of the audience with a desk in front and barriers on either side.

The first one on the left looked like a five-foot-tall lizard, having pointed features, a long neck, and clawed hands. They had two blade–like leaves extending off of their wrists, yellow eyes banded with a red ring, and a quivering red jaw, giving him an intimidating aura. The name of the species he remembered was Sceptile, the Forest Pokémon.

On the Sceptile's right was a large bird with a red breast and face. It was about two feet tall, standing on the desk so that it could examine the contestants. They had red feet, a white stomach, and were covered in navy blue feathers on their wings, back, and head. Felix could occasionally see their twin tails twitching behind them. The bird looked smug and was glaring at Felix in a way that made him feel like a poor insect about to be gobbled up by this impressive avian specimen. Their species name was Swellow, and they definitely looked swell.

The third and final judge was another Gardevoir, but they appeared different from all of the other Gardevoir he had seen as of yet. For one thing, they were visibly older than most others, having an older and wiser gaze coupled with weathered skin. Their "dress" was crisp white and green like any other, but had a more delicate sheen. The air around them was regal and imposing, commanding authority but kind as well. If any of the judges were leaders, the Gardevoir was the most regal and majestic of them all.

The bustling of the crowd in their seats was beginning to quiet, the anticipation beginning to climb. Felix shuffled nervously as he stood before the people who would most likely see him fail. Only Sylvia's hand holding his large finger gave him any reassurance that he may not lose or fail epically.

A small figure left from behind the judges table and began to approach the horde of competitors. When Felix said small, he meant really small. The goblin-like creature that was in front of him was little more than a foot tall, barely up to his knees. They were dark purple in color, and had two large gemstones that appeared to be diamonds where his eyes should be. They had clawed fingers and toes and a hunch to its back that made it look all the more malicious. This Pokémon was obviously a Sableye, a little humanoid that ate gems regularly.

In their right hand they held what appeared to be a microphone, with a wireless adapter and a large mesh ball covering the end. The Sableye held the microphone to his mouth and pulled their mouth in a mischievous grin. If there was anything creepy about Sableye, it was their large set of diamond sharp teeth. It began to speak into the microphone, having their voice amplified to fill the gym with the sharp sound of its voice. "Ladies and Gentlemon, it will be my honor to welcome you all to this year's Welcoming Tournament. We have had sixteen new residents from four different regions come to our beloved Hoenn region. I would also like to introduce our champions to our honorable judges. From Verdanturf town we have Blade, the town's mayor!"

Blade acknowledged this and began waving his clawed hand in response to the applause. He nodded and the Sableye continued to introduce the other judges. "And perching next to Blade would be Eriel, the Senator of Fortree city!" Eriel bowed in reply, but gave the Sableye a joking glare for his comment. "And last, but certainly not least is Kelly, senator of Mossdeep city!" The crowd was enthusiastic to clap or howl or whatever in response to Kelly's introduction. The Gardevoir smiled kindly and waved politely to the adoring audience. She was obviously a well-respected leader, having such approval of most citizens.

The audience's praise slowly died down, allowing the commentator to continue their speech. "Now that I have introduced our wonderful judges, I will introduce myself. I am Josh from Dewford town and I am highly honored to commentate at this fine event. This tournament is not just about battling, but about welcoming these sixteen competitors to our fair region. Give them all a warm welcome for coming here." The crowd clapped, screeched, growled in a welcoming gesture.

It was nice to know that these people would be willing to welcome him with open arms, it really touched him. The cheers died down once more and Josh continued. "Today we shall witness how well the newcomers are able to fare in the honorable tradition of a double battle tournament. The rules are simple. Each team of two, one newcomer and one local, will have to fight another team. The opposing teams will be decided randomly. The winning team is the one that remains conscious and will continue to battle in the next round. The finales will have the two newcomers fight one last battle and the last mon standing is the Tournament champion. Now that the rules are established, let's have a good tournament, and may the best mon win!"


	13. Chapter 13: Iron Skulls

Chapter 13: Iron Skulls

"Now to begin our first match, would all competitors except Felix, Sylvia, Jason, and Slag please leave the battle field?" The battle field began to clear as the twenty-eight competitors slowly shuffled into their seats. Only the four of them remained. Felix thought Slag was a weird name, but after examining the other two, he could see why their name was Slag.

On Felix's left, there was a mountainous, armor plated behemoth that was seven feet tall. The monster before him had rough black skin that was stony in texture. Metal covered large parts of their body, with silver claws and toes, iron head and horns, and jaws of steel that could probably crunch through metal and earth indiscriminately. Its eyes were sky blue, deadly serious and unyielding in nature. Their tail was much larger than Felix's, causing the metal muncher to lean forward continuously. The name for such a breath taking creature was Aggron, an armored tank that munched on metal for food. He definitely looked like Slag if the name ever meant anything.

Felix couldn't see his partner behind such bulking mass and broad shoulders. Josh then announced "Now would both teams please face each other and bow?" Felix and Sylvia turned to face their adversaries this round. Slag did likewise, allowing both teams to look at each other and examine them. Slag's friend was something that was very new to Felix.

He was about as tall as him, maybe even a little taller. Like Blade, he was lizard-like in appearance with a triangle head, reptilian body and yellow eyes. The similarities ended there, as while Blade was thin and agile, Felix's opponent was thick and bulky, rippling with pale blue muscles. Yellow white rock covered their face, arms, tail and legs in an armor similar to Slag's. Their lower half was navy blue, making it look like they were wearing pants. Overall he looked like an aquatic version of Chesnaught, but much more macho than Felix was. Both teams bowed in synchrony, showing respect to both sides. "Now would both teams put their belongings in their seats please?" Josh said, looking at Sylvia in particular. Sylvia slung her bag off her shoulder and used Psychic to place it in her seat. Neither Slag nor Jason had anything on them, so they stood waiting for Josh to continue.

"Alright then, now it's time to introduce the first round competitors. On the left, we have Jason and Slag, The Irons Skulls!" The crowd cheered as Slag and Jason head butted each other, showing they were indeed metal heads. Their act was intimidating, knowing they had nothing in their skulls besides an urgency to fight. Felix was beginning to feel nervous again, but then Sylvia held his hand again, abating any tension he was feeling. The cheering slowly faded until Josh started speaking again. "Truly they are The Iron Skulls. On the right side of the field, we have Felix and Sylvia, The Guardians of Light." Immediately Felix and Sylvia used Flash together like they practiced, throwing a temporary blinding white light throughout the arena.

The crowd went wild, going absolutely crazy for their light show. Jason and Slag looked miffed that Felix and Sylvia stole their spotlight. Felix was able to notice Lily among the crowd, yelling in excitement. Josh was happy to let the crowd cheer for them, waiting longer than he did for The Iron Skulls. "That was an excellent show of luminous brilliance. I hope they are as bright in battling. After the 30 second planning period, the battle will begin." Sylvia and Felix began a mental conversation to plan in private. " _Okay, what is Jason? I've never seen anything like him."_

Sylvia was confused to hear this, as Felix had so far guessed ever species he'd seen (except for Nikola, who was something called a Cerebrulb). " _They're called Aguanauts, they aren't common and are only seen in colonies in Unova. Nikola knows where they're from, but he doesn't talk much about his past. All you need to know is that they are brutal, but not very intelligent. Slag and Jason are obviously not the brightest and will probably try to hit hard and fast."_ He could see where she was coming from, as Slag was using his fist in a crushing gesture to describe his plan to Jason.

" _So should we use the setup sweep combo?"_ She nodded. " _Good Idea, I think that will work best."_ Josh the Sableye then chimed "Times up, are both teams ready?" Both teams nodded in response. Josh then again revealed his toothiest grin and yelled "Then let's get it started! Bubble up." He stepped backwards before a large pink barrier rose up to form a dome over the battle field.

Once the bubble was up, Felix quickly taught his muscles to Bulk Up while Sylvia used Calm Mind to boost her psychic power to prepare for a setup sweep (Felix was the one who called it that, as that was a strategy he often used in the games). Slag and Jason were rushing towards them, both with a steely glow encompassing their heads. Their dual Iron Head was closing ground fast, but Felix held his ground. Before they would be run over by their Iron Heads, Felix used Quick Guard to form a crimson barrier to protect him and Sylvia.

Slag and Jason had no time to react to his barrier, both ramming into it at full force. Felix kept his hands in front of him, keeping the barrier steady whilst taking such brute force. When he thought his strength would fail him, his Quick Guard pushed back Jason and Slag, throwing them across the field. While they were both dazed, Sylvia's eyes glowed blue and Jason was outlined light blue as well. She used Psychic to throw Jason all the way across the field, slamming him against the protective bubble. He fell unconscious from the intense force. Felix was probably not going to have the same luck with Slag however.

He began to collect earthen energy between his hands to fire a Mud Shot while Slag rolled over to stand upright. Once he was up, Felix launched a volley of mud at his face and chest. Slag was repeatedly hit with Felix's projectiles. His sky blue eyes began to cloud over with anger, as Aggron disliked mud baths since it damaged their armor. Slag began to collect pale blue energy in his mouth, preparing to fire an Ice Beam at Felix the mud slinger. Felix was wise enough to roll out of the way as icy blue tendrils zoomed pass his head with subzero temperatures.

The spot where Felix was standing before was coated in a thin layer of ice, chilling the small area around it. Slag then lowered his head and began charging at Felix with immense speed and power. His aura began to glow blue-white, coming full throttle towards Felix in a Head Smash. Felix didn't have time to dodge his sudden charge, so he began to throw a Power-Up Punch in retaliation. They both connected at full speed, releasing all power into their moves.

After they connected, Slag fell to the ground unconscious from the massive blow to his head from his own Head Smash and Felix's Power-Up Punch. Felix's arm began to burn from taking the full blow, throbbing painfully. The battle bubble began to lower and the cheers from the crowd could be heard from all sides, filling his ears with their joyful exuberance. Slag moaned painfully and opened his eyes. Felix reached out his left arm to him, helping his opponent rise from his uncomfortable position.

Slag was about as heavy as a mountain, but Felix was able to help him onto his feet. He looked Felix in the eye and spoke in a deep gravelly voice. "Thanks Felix, it was an honor to fight you." "Thank you for being a worthy opponent" he replied. Felix couldn't hear anything else that Josh or the crowd was saying, as the ringing in his ears prevented him from hearing anyone but Slag. Sylvia stood with Jason, helping him get onto his feet. She mentally spoke to Felix. _You did great Felix, let's help them get to the Healing Center."_ They grouped together and began to walk from the arena. He could see the judges as he walked to the Healing Center with Sylvia, Jason, and Slag.

Blade and Eriel were in deep discussion, while Kelly was looking at Felix and smiling hopefully. Whatever they were doing, it had something to do with his performance. He would need to get his arm checked out before it could mean anything of value.


	14. Chapter 14: Andrew

Chapter 14: Andrew

Felix had always wondered how teleportation worked. The idea of having him torn apart atom by atom and then being reformed was a ridiculous and dangerous method. He always thought that it was something like bending space to make two points meet simultaneously. He was wondering this as Sylvia had teleported the four of them unannounced. The sensation was spontaneous and disorienting, as he suddenly appeared in the Healing Center next to the gym.

Felix had seen the white building next to the gym outside, but never had to go inside. Whatever injuries he received from training, Sylvia would heal him with Heal Pulse. He figured his injuries along with Jason's and Slag's were a little more severe. The inside of the building was crisp white, with different resting areas around the space. They varied depending on what body style the patient was. They were suddenly greeted by a Gardevoir with a white band with a red cross around their left arm. Felix had seen so many Gardevoir that he was starting to lose the sense of awe (Sylvia told Felix that Gardevoir were common as they never liked being alone, so often congregated in cities with other Gardevoir). This one looked different than all the others he had met.

This one appeared to be as old as Kelly was, with paler skin and delicate sheen. It had broader shoulders and stronger arms, appearing more masculine. He began to speak to Felix in a deeper yet still melodious voice, something around a Tenor. "Hello, I'm Andrew, your healer for today. Please pick a resting spot." Jason and Slag both began to lie down on two rough wide mattresses made for bulkier quadrupeds. Two other Gardevoir began to attend their injuries while Sylvia came to Felix.

" _I need to go back to the gym. You did your job well, so I didn't get injured. I'll be back with the poffins to help recharge"._ She told him mentally. " _I understand, hope to keep battling with you"._ He replied. She waved goodbye as she teleported again. Felix was alone with Andrew, who asked him to please lie down and rest while he worked on his injuries. He picked a soft white mattress to lie down on while Andrew went to work.

He could tell that Andrew was using Heal Pulse to help aid in the healing process, the light pink waves calming him in a synthetic fashion. He began to calm down and ease into a comfortable position as Andrew held his right arm and focused his Heal Pulse there. As Andrew was mending his injuries, He began to talk to Felix. "How long have you been in Hoenn? I've never seen you around." Felix was unsure of why he was asking this question, but answered truthfully. "I've been here since Monday the fourth." Andrew nodded and then continued. "How long have you known Sylvia?" "The same amount of time, why do you ask?" "I'm just curious. Sylvia is my niece and I wanted to know how long you've known her. Kelly told me you did well with her in your first round."

Felix was curious as to why the Senator of Mossdeep was telling a healer who was Sylvia's uncle about his match. "How do you know Kelly?" "Simple, she's my wife. Also, Carol says to look for her and Mark in the audience." Felix brain was slightly sluggish from the effects of Heal Pulse, so he wasn't sure he heard correctly. "Sylvia's Parents?" "Yes, Carol's my sister, so I've been talking with her and Kelly about you." Felix was beginning to worry. His healer was also Sylvia's uncle and was interested in Felix's performance in the tournament. Sylvia's parents were also watching him along with the senator of Mossdeep. Not only that, but they were all interested in Felix himself.

"By the way, where are you from? I heard you came from Kalos, but I was wondering which city." This was bad. Sylvia told Felix that he should try to avoid answering questions like this. He couldn't remember the strange names of Kalosian cities, so he couldn't try to say he was from one of them. He was beginning to get extra nervous, on top of being watched by Sylvia's family in the tournament. "Uhhhh…." Felix droned, until Sylvia suddenly teleported in holding another Pokémon.

"I'm back, I had to stay and watch the next battle. Vanessa here got severely injured." In her arms was a Swellow, with navy blue feathers and red features. Something was definitely wrong; her right wing was bent the wrong way, twitching in an attempt to correct itself. The poor bird was in pain, occasionally screeching as she tried to fix her wing. Andrew's face became grim. "Place her down so that I can get a better look at her wing" He ordered. Felix got off of his resting spot so that Andrew could place Vanessa down on the mattress.

She tried to roll over, but Andrew kept his hand on her heaving chest to prevent her from rolling on her wing. He called to the Gardevoir that were tending Slag and Jason "Get me some bandages, we have a broken wing here and I'll need some help wrapping it." They seemed to understand, suddenly teleporting to get the required supplies. Slag and Jason both got up to look at Vanessa. "Is she going to be okay?" Slag asked in a concerned gravely tone. "She'll be fine, but she won't be in battling condition for at least a week. She's going to need some rest first." Andrew replied. His two assistants arrived with the bandages. He started to use Heal Pulse to calm her down as he wrapped her wing gingerly.

Sylvia, Felix, Jason, and Slag just watched him work, hoping that Vanessa would be okay. It hurt Felix to see her in pain, he was sympathetic that way (of course he was relentlessly teased for being a wimp about it, crying over the pain of an animal). All four of them watched as Andrew finished wrapping her wing against her body to help it heal. Vanessa started look much calmer, folding her other wing so that she could lie down comfortably. "Thank you" she chirped at Andrew, looking much happier to have her wing tended to. "No problem. Now rest so that it may heal." he replied.

Felix could only wonder who could hurt someone so badly in an honorable battle. Felix knelt down so that he could speak to her. "Who did this to you?" She perked her head up to address Felix. "I was fighting in the tournament against The Speed Demons. The fiery one was rushing towards me in a fiery blitz at untold speed. He slammed into my wing mid-flight, causing me to plummet towards the ground. I was panicking since I couldn't fly anymore. My partner was forced to fight them alone and was swiftly defeated." She then nodded towards Sylvia. "After the battle she picked me up and brought me here. I saw the two of you battling Slag and Jason. You both fight honorably and hope you continue to do so throughout the tournament, unlike The Speed Demons." She tweeted angrily.

She then laid down her head and started to rest, her soft breaths making a whistling sound. Whoever these Speed Demons were, they needed to show respect to their opponents. If he had to fight them, he would show them honor or lose trying. He decided to ask Sylvia who they were in order to recognize them. _" Who are the Speed Demons? They need to show more respect to other battlers."_ He mentally questioned. Sylvia looked away from Vanessa to speak to Felix in return. _"It's Wukong and Albert, they were the ones who call themselves Speed Demons."_ She replied, her voice portraying dislike of their teams. Wukong, Felix expected him. He knew he would be trouble, but not like this.

 _"Come on Felix, we're being called back to the arena. Our match is next."_ She told him as she tugged his arm. He looked at Slag and Jason one last time, telling them that he had to fight his next battle soon. "Good luck Felix, hope to see you win." Slag called out to him as he and Sylvia bent space and time to reappear in the gym.


	15. Chapter 15: Sand Spirits

Chapter 15: Sand Spirits

After seeing Vanessa come into the Healing Center, Felix wondered when he would have to face his first flying opponent, as he has no way to deal with them himself. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long. As Felix had his next match to prepare for, he was munching on a Poffin to help him rebuild his strength. As soon as he finished his sour treat, Josh got up from discussing with the judges and held up his microphone. "Alright, now we shall begin the quarter finals. Of our sixteen teams, only eight have been able to move on to the next round. Now would Felix, Sylvia, Flash, and Goggles come to the battle field?" he said, finishing with his ten carat smile.

 _"What kind of names are Flash and Goggles?"_ Felix wondered. _"Sometimes the competitors go by a nickname if they like it more than their real name."_ She said as they walked on to the battle field. Felix felt much more self-conscious knowing that Sylvia's parents, aunt/senator, and Lily were watching him battle with Sylvia. Regardless, he had to be ready to accept the challenge before him. They stood looking at who their opponents would be, again looking at a creature he did know and one he didn't. On the left was a flying green dragon/insect with rhombus shaped wings, large green antenna, and a rhombus tipped tail. Their oddest feature was a pair of large red protective bubbles, like goggles (He guessed that their name was Goggles of course.) It was one of Felix's favorites, Flygon the infamous dragon fly Pokémon. Their companion was a very interesting one.

It stood on two legs, but looked like a sloth, with a flat face, long arms, and massive claws. Patches of yellow fur were on its face, the backs of its hands, and its knees. Various features were cobalt blue, including the areas around yellow fur and the sword-like claws. Whatever this creature was, it was fast and furious with claws like those. They would be very different opponents, much faster than The Iron Skulls. Josh then asked both teams to bow and then began to introduce the two teams.

"Now please welcome Flash and Goggles, The Sand Spirits!" The Flygon began beating their wings, throwing sand towards Felix and Sylvia while producing an unusual feminine singing sound. The audience evidently liked it, cheering for them with enthusiasm. "I'd hate to meet them in a sand storm. Now let's hear it for Felix and Sylvia, The Guardians of Light!" Felix and Sylvia Flashed for the audience, again emitting bright light to show their brilliance. The crowd must have still been excited to see them battle, as they were just as enthusiastic as last time, filling the gym with their cheers.

Josh again showed his dazzling teeth as he said "Clearly there are no fan favorites here. Now let us begin! Bubble up!" The pink shield reformed over the arena, shutting out any sound the audience to prevent distraction. Flash immediately began rushing towards Felix, surrounded in an electric yellow aura. Felix had no time to bulk up, so he had to use Quick Guard to prevent him from slamming into his face. The red barrier formed just in time to take the force of Flash's Extreme Speed.

Sylvia had a similar problem with Goggles flying towards her with their wings enveloped in a steel gray light. In order for her to avoid getting sliced by Goggle's Steel Wing, Sylvia used Psychic to alter Goggle's course to hit Flash as he deflected off of Felix's Quick Guard. The two collided in an awkward tumble, both interrupted by their failed attacks. Felix thought that the sudden onslaught was unusual. _"What happened to the 30 second planning period?"_ Sylvia responded as Goggles and Flash were untangling themselves. _"We've advanced to the quarter finals; we don't need to plan"_ Was her mental response. Felix wasn't quite sure that was a good enough explanation, but they didn't have time to discuss further.

Apparently, Flash was going mount on top of Goggle's back and fly with her into battle (He could tell Goggles was a she because of her whines in protest about how Flash's claws would scratch her back). Once Flash was on her back, Goggles started to flap her wings vigorously, whipping up a Sandstorm that made it impossible to see anything. He couldn't tell where Sylvia or The Sand Spirits were, much less how to attack them. The sand started to scratch Felix, slowly chipping away his strength. Sylvia started to telepathically warn Felix. _"Felix, use Quick Guard!"_ As Felix started to form a protective sphere over himself in response, he chuckled to himself for a Pokémon ordering him around.

As soon as his barrier formed, Flash bashed his sky-blue enveloped claws into the red shell while orange meteors pelted the top. _"Keep it together Felix, I need to use Dazzling Gleam"_ Sylvia urged. Felix was straining to keep his barrier alive against the combined efforts of Flash's Aerial Ace and Goggle's Draco Meteor, but he managed to keep it going long enough for Sylvia to release a brilliant flash of power. Her Dazzling Gleam shined through the Sandstorm, slamming into Flash and Goggles with incredible magic force. Felix's red shield immediately collapsed from the intensity of Sylvia's Dazzling Gleam. Goggles was knocked out of the sky while Flash was knocked down to the ground as well. While Flash was stunned, Felix started to use Needle Arm, extending green spikes from his fist. He raised his fist to land a blow, but stopped himself. Flash was already down; Goggles was also down for the count. It was astonishing to know how powerful Sylvia was.

The bubble started to dissipate, showing that the battle was over. The audience roared with approval, but started to quiet down while Felix dissipated his Needle Arm and offered his hand to Flash. Flash looked back up at Felix, his eyes full of shock. "Why do you treat me like an equal? You defeated me" he asked, his voice in awe. He grabbed his claw and pulled him up from his defeat. "Because I know how it feels to be the lowest. I don't think you need to feel that way, even if Sylvia and I defeated you in combat. Are your injuries severe?" Flash looked unable to respond, still shocked at Felix's kindness. The audience was quiet for the most part, watching Felix and Sylvia talk to their opponents. Flash didn't appear to have been hurt for the most part, neither did Goggles. They seemed to have only received light damage, just enough to knock them out a little.

Sylvia and Goggles walked towards Felix and Flash, and then Sylvia started to use Heal Pulse to help heal Flash and Goggles. They started to relax, their faces showing less pain. Felix was worried about Sylvia, as the Sandstorm might have hurt her. As she healed The Sand Spirits, Felix tried to talk to Sylvia. _"Are you okay? You were unable to defend yourself from Draco Meteor or the sand."_ As she stopped using Heal Pulse, she looked back at Felix with her ruby eyes. _"I'm fine Felix. I'm immune to Dragon type moves like Draco Meteor. Like how you are bulletproof, I don't know why. Thanks for sharing your concern."_ She said as she smiled at him. The crowd suddenly went wild, showing appreciation for their attitude towards The Sand Spirits.

Josh was grinning madly, trying to calm down the audience by speaking. "Wow, such compassion. I've never seen such kindness from the victors before. Let us all show how much that means to us." The crowd surged in volume again, making Felix feel much more at home in all of these strange events. He felt that they appreciated his honor more than his battling prowess. Sylvia, Felix, Flash, and Goggles all headed towards their seats as friends.


	16. Chapter 16: Speed Demons

Chapter 16: Speed Demons

Felix looked at the judges as he was going to the seats with the others. Blade, Eriel, and Kelly were discussing the events of his last battle. He wasn't sure what they would think of his unorthodox actions during his last fight or how Sylvia pretty much did it all herself. Flash and Goggles went up to their seats while Felix and Sylvia got into their seats on the first row next to Slag and Jason. Slag took his eyes off of the judges and looked at Felix, a metallic grin across his face. "Good job Felix, you did well" He said in his stony voice. "Thanks. I don't know what the judges will think of it however." Slag looked back at Felix with a blank stare, then he smiled. "I think that they appreciate more than you can imagine. You'll be fine Felix." Slag then closed his eyes and laid down on his seat, effectively ending their conversation.

Felix still wasn't quite sure about how the judges would feel, knowing that Sylvia did most of the work. Felix lied down on his seat next to Slag and mentally ordered it to be raised so he could watch the battles undisturbed (the whole mental control thing was very weird, but then so was everything else). He stared lazily at the arena, hearing Josh announce the next match. He felt disinterested about watching the match, so he tried to talk with Sylvia mentally (The whole telepathy shenanigans had faded into the background, becoming almost instinctual).

 _"Why does the welcoming tournament exist? I'm kind of concerned about my performance so far."_ She responded without taking her attention from the battle going on. _"The Welcoming Tournament was designed to be a way to help outsiders who moved in find a way to be introduced into our region. The main reason for it is also to find potential candidates for guardianship, as it helps to diversify our different teams." "How many Guardians are there?" "There are currently 31 Guardians in Hoenn. Normally we have 32, four for each major city, but Albert had to retire from duty. He's too old, so they forced him out of guardianship." "So they need to find a new Guardian to replace him here in Mossdeep city?" "Yes, for the most part."_ Felix was thinking on this, wondering if Sylvia knew this when they were signing up to come into this tournament.

Felix had thought of becoming a Guardian before, after learning a little about them yesterday. The idea of working alongside Sylvia had also been alluring. The prospect of being able to use his strength for good was a definite reason. He may also have liked Sylvia and wanted to work with her. _"Aren't you a teacher as well? How do you have two jobs?" "Guardianship isn't as much of a full time job, it's more like a responsibility. When need arises, Guardians respond to the disaster. Sometimes we have to quell disputes or natural disasters." "Like a reactor meltdown?" "Yes, when that happened some guardians responded and went to the island to help clean it up. I know that Finn from Sootopolis city went to help."_ Interesting, Felix thought to himself.

Maybe if he became a Guardian, he could find out more about why he was here or maybe even how to get back. He was no longer interested in watching the other teams' battle, he was too busy thinking about what it would be like to be a Guardian. He had some more questions for Sylvia while they waited for The Speed Demon's battle. _"Why did you heal Flash and Goggles but not Jason or Slag?" "Slag and Jason needed more attention than The Sand Spirits. Also, I wanted you to meet my uncle." "So you knew that Andrew was your uncle?" "Yes, I wanted you to see him before you finished the tournament. I would also like you to meet my parents, but we can't do that right now."_ Felix contemplated this for a moment, not sure of how to respond.

 _"Why do you want me to meet your family so much?"_ Sylvia looked at Felix straight in the eye with a hint of sadness. _"Because you don't have a family here. I want you to know my family."_ That made Felix feel all the gladder to have meet Sylvia. He knew he was blushing, but he also knew that it was hidden under his white beard. They both remained silent for the next battle, neither side having anything else to say. Josh was commenting the different battles, but he tuned out his rambling. Felix hoped that he would be able to win the tournament, if only for some answers.

The second and third battles went by, finally starting the battle between The Speed Demons and The Oracles. Felix could see Wukong walking down the stadium seating, winking at all of the admiring ladies. He strutted onto the battle field, followed by his yellow mustached friend Albert. Two other Pokémon got up from their seats and walked onto the battle field.

One of them was a humanoid fox like creature that appeared to be wearing dark orange robes. They had custard yellow fur on their face and torso and huge tufts of orange fur coming out of their ears. That one was called a Delphox. Their friend was a humanoid with large legs resembling baggy pants. It had thick red lips and a red headpiece. They constantly swayed back and forth, as if the battle would be interrupting their yoga practice. The weird Pokémon was called Medicham, as they meditated often.

Felix hoped the duo could beat Wukong and Albert, but he wasn't so sure they could. Josh introduced The Oracles as Crystal and Ken respectively. Both teams took their battle stances and the bubble came up, coloring the battlers pink. Immediately it became clear why they called themselves The Speed Demons, as they rushed Crystal and Ken before they could even fight back. Wukong went after Crystal, who was trying to grab her branch wand from her sleeve-like arms. He immediately started punching and kicking her repeatedly with Close Combat. Ken tried to rush Albert by jumping at him knee first with High Jump Kick.

Albert was ready for him and teleported out of the way in time to have Ken crash into the ground at high speed. Albert turned towards him and collected darkness into a Shadow Ball with his spoons and hurled it towards Ken. Ken was directly hit and was sent sprawling by the intense blow. Crystal was trying to roast Wukong with a Flamethrower erupting from her mouth, but her orange flames were not able to hit Wukong. Wukong leapt away and enveloped his hand in a black aura, forming a large Shadow Claw. He slashed at Crystal without hesitation, inflicting pain while bearing a grin on his chimp-like face. Crystal could do nothing to stop him and quickly was knocked out.

Both Oracles were defeated without landing a single hit on The Speed Demons. Albert and Wukong waved at the audience as the barrier receded. The two Gardevoir that Felix saw at the Healing Center had to pick up the defeated Oracles while Albert and Wukong were busy attending their politely cheering fans. Felix knew that Wukong was not going to be an easy opponent, but maybe he could humble him a little.


	17. Chapter 17: Storm Chasers

Chapter 17: Storm Chasers

Felix hoped that he wouldn't have to fight another weather team any time soon, as his fur and beard were still full of sand from his battle against The Sand Spirits. With his luck, he would probably fight another weather duo. As the judges were going over the events that transpired during the last battle, Felix was anxious about which team he would have to battle next. He really was hoping that he wouldn't face The Speed Demons after their last swift victory. He mentally voiced his concern to Sylvia, but she didn't have much to say, only reassuring him that he would be fine.

Felix looked at the judge's table to see them telling Josh something. Josh nodded his head and held up his mike to speak. "The following four teams will move on. The Speed Demons, The Storm Chasers, The Thundervolts, and The Guardians of Light are progressing to the semifinals. Let's give a hand to the other four teams that didn't make it." The audience politely cheered for the other four teams. "Now, our first semifinal match will be between The Storm Chasers and The Guardians of Light. Please step down onto the battle field to begin the semifinals." Felix and Sylvia got up from their seats and started walking onto the battle field with The Storm Chasers following close behind. As Sylvia and Felix stood on the left sides of the judges, The Storm Chasers organized themselves on the right.

The Storm Chasers were an odd bunch, as they looked like exact opposites. The one on the left looked like a combination of a walking pineapple and a duck. Their body was covered in a thick layer of tan straw like fur covering their light green body like a poncho. Their large orange bill was underneath a large green hat like structure that resembled a sombrero. It waved their green gloved hands and stump like feet as if they were dancing. It was obviously Ludicolo, the carefree Pokémon.

Their friend however looked anything but carefree. It was a large humanoid teal frog with yellow eyes and a large pulsating poison sac under their mouth. Their arms each had a single large red claw on top of their hands, ready to inject poison into its foes. Even though they only stood a little shorter than the five foot Ludicolo, the venomous look in its eyes and their constant malicious smile intimidated Felix. The name for such a poisonous frog was Toxicroak, and their look was definitely toxic.

They were so different from each other, Ludicolo looked like a chill dancer that would hug you while Toxicroak would stab you with its claws and take any valuables. How the two of them became a team was beyond Felix. "Here we have Festus and Jeremiah, The Storm Chasers." As Josh said this, he gestured to the Ludicolo and Toxicroak respectively. The Storm Chasers didn't do anything flashy, so the audience's cheering was a mediocre response. Josh then turned to Felix and Sylvia, looking excited to announce their team. "And now here we have Felix and Sylvia, The Guardians of Light!" As they did their signature Flash, the crowd went wild. Their sheer volume overwhelmed Felix, making him feel overly self-conscious. _"We'll be fine Felix, just do what comes to your head and we'll pull through."_

Sylvia said it with such surety, he would think that she saw the future (Which she said she could do occasionally). "Now let the first semifinal match begin!" Josh said as the pink shield came up to enclose the battle. Once the shield was up, the battle began. Felix and Sylvia used Bulk Up and Calm Mind to prepare themselves for whatever Jeremiah and Festus would throw at them. Jeremiah's amphibious face was pulled in deep malevolent concentration while Festus was dancing around excitedly. Why he was dancing was anyone's guess. Jeremiah suddenly opened his eyes and fired large blobs of dark brown sludge from his mouth. As his Sludge Bomb was hurtling towards them, Sylvia touched Felix's shoulder. When she touched him, he felt something change about her. She began to feel more solid, like himself. When the Sludge Bomb connected with both of them, it dissipated effortlessly.

Neither he nor Sylvia were at all impacted by the ballistic poison. Jeremiah looked confused to see both of them untouched by his sludge while his partner continued his odd dance. _"How did you do that Sylvia" "I traced your bulletproof ability, so now I'm bulletproof to."_ She seemed amused at Felix's confusion, smiling back at him. Suddenly dark storm clouds began to form on the inside of the shield. It then began to rain furiously, soaking Felix and Sylvia almost immediately.

Now he understood why Festus was dancing, as it was a Rain Dance. It also immediately became clear why they called themselves Storm Chasers, as the two of them looked much happier in the rain. Festus started to gather light green energy into his palms to form an Energy Ball while Jeremiah gathered yellow energy with his bulbous fingers into a Focus Blast. Felix and Sylvia charged up their Seed Bomb and Psyshock in return. The Storm Chasers fired first, their projectiles aimed straight forward. When the ballistic blasts of energy hit Felix and Sylvia, they both immediately dissipated. If there was a time that Felix was glad he was a bulky spiny armored tank, it would have been now. They retaliated with their moves, firing off blue/pink masses and large glowing seeds. The Psyshocks landed on Jeremiah with great force, making him slide all the way to the shield across the muddy field.

Festus took the Seed Bombs in similar fashion, but did not fall over. Instead, he staggered for a little bit and started glowing white. Suddenly multiple copies of Festus started to surround Felix and Sylvia. Festus's Double Team was effective in surprising The Guardians of Light, and he took the opportunity to fire a stream of boiling hot water with Scald. All copies of him followed suit, so they couldn't find the original. Felix was hit directly in the chest and shell by the intense steamy blasts. They burned him painfully, causing him to lose focus. The burns started to sap at Felix's energy, draining him of the will to fight. Sylvia started to glow with a light green aura. Her aura then started to ripple off of her body, giving off a soft ringing sound.

It was Heal Bell, and it started to remove the pain and drain of his burns. _"Thanks" "No problem, but do you have an idea of how to take down Festus?"_ Her question gave Felix an idea. _"Yes, but I'm going to need a lift. Could you use Psychic to pick me up?" "Sure, but I'll need you to guide yourself once you're up there." "No problem."_ Felix started to feel weightless as he was raised into the air suddenly by Sylvia's psychic power. She released him once he was near the clouds and then erupted in a bright flash of light. He concentrated on pulling himself into a dive with the air. He began to muster energy into his hand with his decent.

His hand started to glow sky blue and extended his fingers into blades, as he was using Aerial Ace (He had tried practicing it with Sylvia, but he couldn't pull off the jump it normally required). He focused himself directly towards the original Festus behind Sylvia, as his copies were eliminated from her Dazzling Gleam. He was gathering chill air into his fist to use Ice Punch and was rushing towards Sylvia, moving swiftly with the rain. He wouldn't get any closer, as Felix swooped in from behind Sylvia and slammed into Festus full force. Festus was absolutely shocked at getting hit from above and went flying himself.

Once Festus went down, his rainstorm dissipated and showed the starry sky of the gym once more. Felix got up from the mud and turned around to see Sylvia, glad to have worked well with her. When he looked at her, he saw a teal blur dashing towards Sylvia, its large red claw glowing a sickly shade of purple. Felix panicked and mentally broadcasted to Sylvia. _"Teleport!"_ Sylvia quickly understood and disappeared in a flash of blue light. Felix had enveloped his hand in a large spiky assortment of needles. Jeremiah was unable to respond to the sudden change and was hit in the face by Felix's Needle Arm. Jeremiah fell to the ground, clutching his face in pain.

He didn't move, so the battle ended. The shield dissipated, allowing the crowds cheers to be heard once more. Felix didn't care for the cheering crowds; he was worried more about how Festus and Jeremiah were. This battle was more intense than the last two, so he knelt down next to Jeremiah and asked him how he was. "I'm okay; just a little beat up is all." He croaked. "I'll take you to the Healing center, okay?" Jeremiah nodded and let Felix pick him up in his large arms. Sylvia held Festus by the arm and guided him towards Felix. The four of them gathered in the center and teleported to the healing center together.


	18. Chapter 18: Finals

Chapter 18: Finals

Felix was glad to have brought Jeremiah to the healing center, especially since he beat him up really hard. He laid Jeremiah on a soft bed while Andrew examined him. "Are his injuries severe?" Andrew sighed and replied to Felix. "No, he'll be fine. You didn't hurt him too much. You did well Felix." He smiled as he said that. There were a couple other battlers there getting attended to, but most of them were well enough to get dismissed after a few hours' rest. Almost all of the ones that had to stay longer were Pokémon that went against Wukong and Albert.

"Why are most of the people here from Wukong's battles?" Andrew looked at Felix with sad eyes. "Wukong doesn't know when to stop. When he's better than someone, he likes to go overboard on defeating them. He doesn't show mercy for his opponents, rather wanting to pummel them into the ground." Felix was feeling sad about how many had went up against Wukong and been taken down. He didn't fight them as a friend, he wanted to show the world that he was superior. He looked at poor Vanessa, her wing bandaged after taking one of Wukong's severe blows. He saw Crystal and Ken lying down on beds next to each other, resting after the injuries that were dished out from Wukong and Albert.

Felix was hoping that maybe he could show kindness to Wukong, show him an opponent that would not fall to his powerful blows. Sylvia was next to Ken's bed, talking softly with him. Felix looked at Ken and thought how small he was, only being four feet tall. Sylvia and Ken talked for a little while, then Ken nodded his head and lied down to rest more. Sylvia stood up and started walking out the entrance towards the gym. They decided to walk outside so as to help them dry off from Festus's torrential downpour. Felix was wondering why Sylvia and Ken were talking.

 _"What did you two talk about?"_ As the two of them walked back to the gym, Sylvia responded. _"I was trying to ask him if he thought of any way to help you beat him. He said that if you had some way to turn his blows against him, you could beat him." "Why did you talk to him?" "He's also a teacher and I wanted to see if he had any ideas. His specialty is hand to hand combat so I thought he would have better ideas as to how you could take down Wukong."_ Felix remembered Sylvia talking about how she was a teacher, but he didn't know that there were other teachers that she worked with. He also was trying to figure out how he could take down Wukong and had thought of one specific move that could help him defeat him, but he hadn't quite perfected it (then again he used Aerial Ace and had hardly practiced that one).

He was rubbing the sand and mud out of his white fur as they reentered the gym. He had removed the grit from his fur for the most part and was glad to resume the battling. He got into his seating amongst the defeated challengers and was waiting for him to be called up for his battle against Wukong. Sylvia picked up her bag and was starting to head into the general seating. _"Where are you going?"_ She turned to Felix and looked apologetic. _"I'm sorry Felix, but I promised my parents that I would sit next to them. I know you'll do well, just give it your best."_ That reminded Felix of a question he had earlier. _"Did you know that I would win the last round because you saw a glimpse of the future?"_ Her face was an odd assortment of enigmatic and cheerful. _"Yes, sort of. I knew that you would go on to the finals. I don't see anything now, but I have a good feeling about it Felix. Don't worry, I'll be watching you and make sure you're okay." "Thanks. Hope to see you soon Sylvia." "Bye"_ she said as she put her bag around her shoulder and walked away.

Felix thought it was nice that she would be able to watch him lose to Wukong (even though it wasn't certain, it would be the most likely outcome). The judges finished talking amongst themselves and started talking to Josh. Josh looked excited as he was about to announce the final battlers. "Now the judges have decided on who will go on to the finals. I am proud to announce that Wukong: The Speed Demon from Sinnoh and Felix: The Guardian of Light from Kalos will be our final match. Would both of you please step onto the battle field please?" It was no shocker that Wukong was able to defeat The Thundervolts, knowing how relentless he was.

Felix got up from his spot and started to walk onto the battle field for the last battle, at least for today. He stood in the middle of the field, looking through the audience to find Sylvia's lace band amongst the crowd. He finally spotted her in the middle next to a Blaziken and older Gardevoir, probably Mark and Carol. She was smiling at Felix and looked calm about what would happen in this battle. Thomas and Lily were on her right, cheering excitedly. Felix was wondering just how this final battle would end.

Wukong was standing next to Felix on his right, his flaring head lightly searing his left arm. Josh looked very pleased to see the two of them on the battle field, his prominent teeth showing in his wide smile. "Now would Felix and Wukong shake hands?" It was odd for Josh to say that, as so far there was no hand shake requirement. Then again, this would be the last battle and it deserved some respect. Felix turned and offered Wukong his right hand. Wukong looked at Felix's hand and sneered as he shook it. "I'll make sure that you don't win this Felix. I'm going to hold nothing back." "I hope you do; you wouldn't be a worthy opponent otherwise." Wukong leered at Felix after his reply, unsure if he insulted him or not. They swiftly ended their handshake and moved themselves apart to assume battling positions. "Let the battle begin!" Josh announced as the bubble was raised one last time.

Felix was about to Bulk Up, but Wukong smiled tauntingly at him. Normally that wouldn't matter, but for some reason Felix was unable to Bulk Up once Wukong taunted him (he never understood how it worked, but Taunt seemed to affect him mentally). With being unable to Bulk Up, Felix charged at Wukong with his arm glowing orange from a Power-Up Punch. The Flame top monkey smiled mischievously as he rushed to Felix with Close Combat. The two met head on, but Felix couldn't land a hit on Wukong. As he relentlessly pummeled Felix with punches, he cackled in excitement. "What's the problem Felix, can't take me on by yourself?" He couldn't respond to his taunt, only hoping to endure the onslaught of punches. Whatever Thomas may have felt about their battle; he was glad that he demonstrated what a relentless foe would battle like.

His fiery adversary ended his barrage and quickly flipped backwards. He drew in a deep breath and then blew orange flames at Felix. It took him all the strength he could muster to raise his arms and form a small Quick Guard to prevent the Flamethrower from roasting Felix. The flames tickled the edges of his barrier, the strain of keeping it up intensifying. Felix was at a disadvantage here and he needed to find a way to even it out. The fire died down and the Quick Guard faded away as well. Once it was down, Felix collected earthen energy and lobbed a Mud Shot at Wukong's smiling face. He was not expecting the offensive projectile and looked very upset about it. "I'll show you!" he yelled as he wiped his face and then engulfed himself in blue fire. It was his signature move, Flare Blitz. He became completely engulfed in the odd flames and came rushing towards Felix in a fiery blitz.

Felix was hoping for this, as he slammed his two fists together. His armguards grew into a large spiky green shield, coated in green energy in the shape of spikes. His Spiky Shield was up before Wukong could react. He crashed into the shield with immense power, impaling himself on the spikes that suddenly appeared. Felix had a hard time standing up during the moment of contact, but was able to endure long enough for Wukong to collapse in defeat. It was over, a simple battle between the two best battlers at the tournament. The battle bubble dissipated and Felix was met with immense cheers from all sides.

The audience was able to enjoy every moment of the final battle. Felix saw Lily enveloping Thomas in her vast leafy arms while Thomas was unsure how to react. He also saw Sylvia smiling proudly at him, glad to see him victorious. Felix was relieved, but wanted to help his worthy foe from his lowest point. The monkey king was groaning as Felix held up his head, the flames having died down to a smudge. "Why don't you finish it Felix? I'm done for…" Wukong murmured.

"I'm not going to hurt you Wukong, I've done enough of that today." "Why do you treat me so nicely? I've insulted you, taunted you, and nearly roasted you. Why not pummel me in return?" "Because someone is always better at something than you are, so you treat everyone as equals. No point in trying to show that you're better than everyone, because you're not." Wukong thought on this, his face blank of emotion. "Do you need help up Wukong?" "No, I'm good. Thanks Felix, nice to know there are people like you that don't bother with showing off. It has been nice knowing you." Wukong stood up painfully and began to follow Felix out to the healing center as a friend.


	19. Chapter 19: Unlucky

Chapter 19: Unlucky

Felix always found it ironic how his name meant happy or lucky in Latin. He was never very lucky and didn't often look happy, even if he was. At the moment where he had won the tournament and was walking with a staggering Wukong, Felix felt very unlucky. He could sense something moving beneath him, the audience also became awfully silent. It felt as though the entire gym was holding its breath in anticipation. The earth began to shake, as if something was going to erupt from its surface and prove just how unlucky Felix was. A creature emerged in front of Felix, throwing dirt in all directions.

The being that emerged was bulky. It had large fins on its head and a sail like tail. The creature had large three fingered arms and thick legs. It had a wide mouth with large protrusions from its cheeks that looked like gills. Felix though it looked like a Swampert, but something was wrong. Instead of being blue and orange, it was midnight black and acid green. Their eyes were wild and angry, glowing violent green. It kept muttering to itself, looking around its surroundings for something. It suddenly locked its eyes on Felix, the rage in its gaze looking harsher. The mutated Swampert let out a guttural cry and prepared to fire at the apparently offensive Felix. Wukong hobbled away as the Swampert fired a column of acid green water at Felix.

The liquid burned him on touch, but not like Festus's scald. This Hydro Pump burned more like a horrific sunburn, a form of radiation burn. He could feel the acidic radiation harming Felix, but he knew that he needed to calm down the Swampert or more people would get hurt. The radioactive water receded and Felix charged and lobbed a large Seed Bomb at the Swampert. The radioactive creature did nothing to stop the projectile and took it directly to the face. The Swampert looked weakened yet still furious, letting loose another murderous cry.

Before it or Felix could do anything, there was a calming wave washing over the two battlers. Felix could see Sylvia slowly walking towards the two of them, calming both sides down with Heal Pulse. Felix saw the Swampert losing the will to destroy him and was glad to see it promptly collapse onto the dirt. He was feeling relieved, but the acidic burn from radiation continued once Sylvia stopped.

The pain caused him to double over, clutching his stomach area. He could see Nikola and Archie coming to the field to assess the situation while Sylvia approached him, her eyes full of concern. "Are you okay?" Felix was in the process of answering no when the pain forced him to fall unconscious. He was left to himself to think about what happened to the Swampert and if it could have been Finn. His thoughts mindlessly wandered as he could feel his body being moved to a new location. He didn't much care where they took him as long as they could relieve him of the nuclear pain.


	20. Chapter 20: The Lab

Chapter 20: The Lab

Felix was always nervous about getting surgery, as he felt uncomfortable when other people knew his insides more than he did. He enjoyed his privacy and seldom let anyone touch him or look at his skin. The idea of someone digging through him made him feel sick. Since he became a Chesnaught, he felt more self-conscious about how people looked at him (the fact that no one wore clothes was still something he was getting used to). Now he had to worry more about his mental privacy since most people around him could read his mind.

He was still in the misty waves of sleep, but he could hear voices. The voices were discussing something and kept saying his name. Felix started to pay attention to what they were saying as best as he could while still in this semi-sleep. A metallic voice started to voice itself prominently. _"Do you really think that Felix has something to do with this nuclear disaster? You said he came here shortly after the incident occurred at the Tandor Nuclear Plant."_ He then heard a much calmer voice begin speaking. _"Do I think he had something to do with the reactor melting? No, no I don't. I'm just saying how his appearance and Dr. Goo's are too close to the reactor incident to not mean something. I think these two have something to do with the prophecy." "Which one?"_ An energetic voice asked. _"The one about the titan, remember how it goes?"_ the calm voice replied. _"Yes Sylvia, I remember Albert's Prophecy."_ The energetic voice scoffed and then started to recite something.

 _"When a Titan is born from a metal shell,_

 _Two heroes shall come from worlds that fell._

 _One with knowledge to benefit all,_

 _The other with power to prevent shadow's fall."_

 _"Although I'm not sure which one you think Felix is. He doesn't seem to be all that smart, seeing him battle Finn like that." "He did have the advantage and was trying to defend the others. I think he's plenty smart for whatever the prophecy may say he needs to do."_ The metallic voice replied. _"I believe his resistance to radiation and his overall strength makes him more fit to be the hero who 'prevents shadows fall', whatever that may mean. He was able to take down Finn very well, giving me enough time to help calm him."_

Felix was surprised at all of the information that was being shared amongst these three, knowing that they had some idea as to what was happening. _"Do you think The Republic of Hoenn will approve of us asking him to help with the incident in Tandor?"_ The energetic one asked. _"I know for a fact that Kelly approved of asking him, along with Blade and several others. They even said that he should be a Guardian if he can help us with this crisis."_ The metal one voiced.

Felix was very surprised; he was going to be asked to help The Guardians with a nuclear crisis. He may even be a Guardian once it was over. Then once he was a Guardian, he could look for a way home. _"I don't think this is Felix's only purpose to accomplish while he's here. I think there is something more about him than what we may know."_ Sylvia stated. _"How so?"_ The metal and energetic one asked simultaneously. _"There is something about him that is very…unique." "Are you talking about how he's very different from other Chesnaughts? Like how his legs are closer, his arms shorter and his spine much straighter…"_ The metal one interrupted. Sylvia continued after a moment of silence.

 _"No, I'm talking more about this…light I sense in him. He does something that he calls 'praying' and whenever he does, I feel this light envelop him. It's as if there is another presence surrounding him and it shows up most when he prays. The presence doesn't seem harmful or malicious, but more powerful than anything I've felt before…"_ After she said this, the three of them all fell silence. The metal one broke the silence with his question. _"Do you think he has something to do with another prophecy?"_

Before Sylvia could answer, the electric one spoke up. _"Quick refresher, Felix is able to communicate telepathically correct?" "Yes"_ Sylvia replied. _"Doesn't that mean that he could be listening to this telepathic conference unbeknownst to us?"_ Again, all three of them became dead silent. _"I think I'll go check on him, see if he's recovered from the radiation."_ Sylvia said. Felix started to emerge from his half-sleep when Sylvia came into the room. He was resting face first on a white bed in the middle of a stainless steel room, decorated only with what he assumed were surgical instruments and cabinets for medical supplies. He could smell the faint scent of anti-septic in the small room.

The decorations made him feel somewhat more uncomfortable, but he guessed it was because it was where they treated him for his radiation burns. He pulled himself up to meet Sylvia, hoping to get off of his metal framed bed without incident. Sylvia looked at Felix as she asked "How do you feel?" Felix didn't think much as he brushed himself off, so he said "I feel fine." "Are you sure? You just fought Wukong and then had to face a nuclear Guardian in front of everyone." she said pointedly. Felix shrugged, not sure if there was anything he could say as he could feel no intense burning or aching and still had every body part accounted for. She then composed herself and took a more serious pose. "Anyway, Nikola and Archie want to talk with you. We've been talking and there is something we need to discuss with you." "Sure." Was all he could really say, excited to talk with his possible teammates.


	21. Chapter 21: Finn

Chapter 21: Finn

Felix was not one for sleeping in, so when Sylvia told him he had been asleep for two days after getting his chest radiated, he didn't quite believe her. He normally couldn't sleep any later than 7 a.m. on a bad day, much less a good one. He could however find truth in her words, seeing as how he was famished after having taken a two-day nap. He was interested in talking to Archie and Nikola, but right now he had to replenish two days' worth of hunger. He was too busy snarfing the Aspear berry poffins that Sylvia brought. He was downing a glass of cold Leppa Berry juice (which tasted vaguely like apple juice) before he decided to look around.

The Lab was very cool to look at, having vast areas dedicated to machines and different containment units all brightly light by industrial lighting. He could smell something like motor oil and singed electronics, probably from some failed projects that happened earlier. One of the nifty devices looked like a teleportation device. Archie's and Nikola's chambers were off to the left of the medical chamber while the door out was straight ahead. Of course the most interesting occupant of the expansive chamber was a large aquatic tank holding the most powerful being in a ten-mile radius named Finn.

His eerie green glow made the four of them grow uneasy. After having his quick breakfast, Felix decided to try talking to his gracious hosts. "So did anything interesting happen over the last few days?" The floating one, Nikola, was the first to respond. "Well…Tandor has gone into a state of panic and the United Regions declared a Level Three emergency and is requesting any help from the local regions." "Level Three?" "Level Three means that the whole world could be endangered by the catastrophe." Sylvia replied calmly. Okay, so things were not looking too hot at the moment. The world he just came to a week ago was possibly going to get destroyed.

"Why Level Three? What could be that threatening?" "A massive nuclear creature that turns others nuclear and is bent on ruling everything." Nikola replied humorlessly. "How do you know about that? I don't think Finn is that powerful." Felix could see the green beast in his tank glaring at him. "No, Finn may not be that powerful, but his 'Master' may be. He won't stop mentally jabbering about how powerful he is and how he means to rule all. However, he became awfully silent once you were awake. I think he means to talk to you, he keeps saying 'the spiky one' incessantly" Nikola stated. How he could talk was beyond him, anything Finn said in the glass jar would be incomprehensible to Felix. Maybe he could talk to him mentally.

He turned to face Finn bobbing up and down in his tank with wires attached to various points of his body, his acidic eyes staring at Felix in return. He walked up to the Swampert, close enough to feel the slightest buzz of radiation. _"Did you want to speak with me?" "Master will not be happy. Master wants the spiky one, but spiky one beat Finn. Poor, poor Finn, now Master will not be happy"_ Finn mentally muttered to himself in a deep guttural voice as he stared at Felix. _"Why does 'Master' want to see me?" "Master needs power. Master likes power. The spiky one has much power, so Master wants spiky one. With spiky one, Master will rule all. Master will be happy."_ Finn blabbered madly. _"But what of slimy one? Master also wanted the slimy one. 'Slimy one knows things' he said, 'slimy one is weak, so you can get him' he said. Who is slimy one?"_

Finns wandering mind rants were starting to worry Felix, as the mention of 'slimy one' made him think of Dr. Goo. Could he be thinking of him? Nikola did mention in the prophecy something about 'one with knowledge'. Maybe it was all connected. He severed the mental link with Finn and walked back to Sylvia, Nikola, and Archie, who were talking amongst themselves. They shifted their attention to Felix, except for Archie, who merely closed his dark eyes in concentration. "Did he say anything comprehensible?" Nikola asked as if it was completely normal to speak with a radioactive organism. "Yes, he was able to tell me some things. I'm not sure if it means anything."

He told the two of them (Archie was still in deep thought and was probably not listening) about what Finn was muttering to himself, including his mentions of the slimy one. Nikola puzzled over this new information, scratching his chin with his broad triangular fingers. Sylvia also appeared to be deep in thought, analyzing what Felix said whilst also rubbing her round chin. Nikola was the first to speak up "Do you think he could just be mentally addled by his condition?" "Exactly what is his condition? I know he's radioactive, but what exactly happened?" Nikola was about answer Felix's question when Sylvia gestured to Nikola to stop. Once he put his hand down, Sylvia spoke in her soft voice. "So you know how everyone resonates with one or two different energies or 'types'? Like how you're a Grass and Fighting type while I'm a Psychic and Fairy type?" "Yes" He knew the concept well enough from playing/mastering Pokémon Emerald (although explaining all of the intricacies of the mechanic to someone was rather difficult).

"Well, normally there are only eighteen different types. Finn would normally be a Water and Ground type however, something changed it so that he has a third 'type' which we classify as Nuclear. Normally when their typing is changed, the effect is temporary and wears off after a while. Finn's Nuclear type seems to be a more permanent change, as he's still radiating profusely. Nuclear type is rather frail, but is extremely potent against all other types. The problem is that it is not normal to have three types for too long and is quickly accelerating his body's decay. If we can't find a way to safely discharge all of that pent up energy, he's not going to live for more than a week." "So you think this third typing could be causing his brain to become unstable, preventing him from speaking intelligently?" "Yes, that is exactly what we are thinking at the moment. Archie is trying to find a possible solution right now and is devoting all brainpower to this effort."

Nikola buzzed hopefully, unsure if there could indeed be a solution. "Do you think that 'Master' could be asking for me and Dr. Goo?" Nikola looked shocked that Felix asked that question, so Sylvia spoke up while Nikola picked his metaphorical jaw off the ground. "Maybe, you both aren't from around here and are very distinct. How 'Master' could know about you two is beyond me." Nikola eventually recovered and sparked angrily "I thought we weren't going to tell Felix about Dr. Goo until he became a Guardian. We agreed on this!" "He's almost a Guardian now and would have become one if Finn didn't interrupt the tournament. He's been mixed into all this from the start, coming from another world just like Dr. Goo did. Besides, I didn't tell him about Dr. Goo, he knew about it from the beginning. He was there to see him for himself." Sylvia retorted, calming down after her blunt response.

"Okay Sylvia, I get it. Felix has every right to be here and to know about Dr. Goo since he's been scrambled into this mess." Nikola fizzled harshly. Felix felt uncomfortable as he asked his next question "Where is Dr. Goo?" he pleaded. Sylvia looked back at Felix while Nikola folded his robe-like arms. "He's in the tank next to the medical chamber. We've had Andrew look at him but he couldn't find any way to awaken him." Felix turned around to look at the door he had exited moments earlier. Sure enough, there was a small clear tank filled with water, leaves, and an unconscious purple slug-like blob that dozed sleepily. "How are you feeding him?" "He's able to take the nutrients from the leaves and water to survive. Goomy can survive like that for months at a time off of nothing but leaf juice and water." Sylvia stated, matter-of-factly.

"So should we be worried about others coming to find him and me?" "Maybe, 'Master' does seem eager to find both of you. I'm not sure if he has anyway to find you. I think it was only because of Finn that he found you." Felix was getting awfully tired of hearing about 'Master'. Whoever they were, they were causing mayhem and wanted Felix and Dr. Goo for unknown purposes. "Do we have any plans on how to take down 'Master'? It seems that they are bent on world domination or something of that nature. Radiating people into his puppets certainly isn't good either." "Actually, yes we do Felix. We need you and Sylvia to go to Tandor to try and neutralize him. He should still be isolated on the island, so you won't have trouble finding him. You would fight him, seeing as you are resistant to radiation and Sylvia will help calm him down. Once he's down, Archie and I will be able to come, pick him up with all of his minions, and then treat all of them for this Nuclear illness." Nikola listed off.

"What if we fail?" "Well, if you fail, Archie and I will have to come over and take him down ourselves." This plan sounded about as good as it could get in all of the chaos. Master seemed intent on killing Felix or making him into a Nuclear minion. He wasn't quite sure which was worse. "Come Felix, we need to get on the Warp pad." Sylvia stated as she pulled him towards the device that resembled a teleportation device. As she pulled him, Felix could only think of how he had gone from winning a tournament to fighting a massive Nuclear creature that wanted him personally in order to take over the world. It was going to be fun living here for sure.


	22. Chapter 22: Tandor

Chapter 22: Tandor

When Nikola said Tandor, Felix wasn't quite sure what to think. He memorized all of the six different regions (something that he wasn't quite proud of until now) and yet Tandor wasn't one of them. It was probably where some of the Pokémon he met recently came from, seeing as he didn't remember them like the other 721 he did know (again, memorizing what was probably useless until he was brought here). The Warp pad was an interesting device, seeing as it was about to transport him to a whole new region in a matter of seconds.

Sylvia grabbed her tan bag off of a hook next to the device and stepped into it alongside Felix. The device consisted of a large glass cylinder object with a steel floor and ceiling. Intricate circuitry and a large light covered the ceiling, probably the part of the machine that was going to teleport them. The inside was very spacious, generous enough to probably house two Metagrosses (probably because it was built by one). Nikola had floated over to a small console screen on the left side of the device and was tapping it with his broad fingers. "Okay, all set and ready to warp. Are you ready Felix and Sylvia?" he sparked. Felix found his choice of words familiar to something from a show he once watched, so he humorously said "Beam us up Nicky". It was apparent that 'Nicky' did indeed not understand the reference and was not happy at being called 'Nicky'. Nikola glared unhappily at Felix as he started up the Warp pad.

As the teleportation device warmed up, Nikola looked sincerely to Sylvia and said _"Find Alessandro for me"_ mentally. The Warp pad started humming, increasing in volume until a brilliant flash of light blue light. Once the light faded from his eyes, Felix discovered that the both of them had suddenly appeared on a wooden dock at the beach. The smell of salty brine assaulted his nose, making the transition all the more apparent. He turned around to examine his surroundings.

To the left was a small city dominated by a few massive buildings. To the right and back were rolling hills of sand until it met large red rocks that continued inland. The location was completely foreign to Felix, not reminding him of anything from any game he played. "Where are we? I don't remember this place." Sylvia brushed herself and responded to his question. "This is Route 7, just outside of Bealbeach city. We warped here because it was the closest point to Nuclear Plant One, where the disaster happened." "Why didn't we warp to the plant?" "Mainly because we don't know what happened there and we aren't sure how secure the plant is. Another reason is that we need to know that the surrounding areas are clear, ever since Finn left the island and got all the way to Hoenn." Sylvia explained.

Felix thought on this for a moment and then realized that there was no boat on the dock and he was pretty sure Sylvia couldn't teleport that far. "How are we going to get to the plant?" Sylvia had been staring at the vast ocean and had to look back at Felix to reply. "A friend of Nikola's is coming on his boat to help us get to the island. I had to send him a telepathic message so he would come pick us up." The crashing of the waves on shore made the place feel uneasy, as if the city had been emptied of inhabitants. "Where is everybody?" "When the meltdown happened three weeks ago, most of the inhabitants of Bealbeach city and their neighbors evacuated to Legen town. Legen town is their emergency bunker in the mountains if there is a nuclear incident. After Finn was found in Mossdeep city, most of the remaining inhabitants swiftly arrived in Legen. The vast number of people displaced by the incident overflows Legen town's ability to house all of them, so The Tandor Republic urges us to finish this quickly" Sylvia said tenderly.

It was a disaster all right. If their nuclear bunker was being overflown with incoming citizens, then Master definitely was scarier than just a 'Nuclear Meltdown'. As Felix stood on the docks, patiently awaiting the arrival of a boat, Sylvia was shuffling through her bag and brought out two metal canteens. She offered Felix one and took it, eager to try and alleviate the sun's intensity with some water. As he opened the canteen to take a drink, he wondered where Sylvia had gotten the small metal container, along with her lace headband and brown travel bag. Since it was going to be a while before they could get on a boat to face what was probably one of the strongest creatures in the world, it was probably a good time to talk with Sylvia more. "Where do you get small things like your bag and canteens?" "The canteens were a gift from my brother William while I bought the bag and lace from my friend Shirley in Unova." "How do you make money?" "Simple, I teach at the Mossdeep city school. I love my job and I enjoy working with youth." "Well how would I make money?" "You could become a competitive battler or a gym leader. They work at the gyms and I think many people like your battling style."

Felix was unsure of how he could fight for a living, but he would probably have to live with it for now. "I noticed that Nikola didn't like calling him Nicky. Is there a reason for that?" Sylvia nodded "Yes, he doesn't like having nicknames, mainly because 'Nicky' is his least favorite and is the one most people try to use. Why did you call him that?" "Well, it was part of a joke that I had in my head. I couldn't tell you since it was a reference to a show I once saw in my world." Sylvia understood. Felix had tried to tell her about shows in his world, but she didn't think much of them (to be honest Felix didn't enjoy them that much either). The topic of nicknames was on his mind, so he decided to risk another question.

"Is Archie short for something?" Sylvia nodded again. "It's short for Archimedes, but he insists on being called Archie. He says he likes to keep it brief, probably because he doesn't like wasting time. He often sits around thinking about solutions to various problems" "That sounds awfully lonely." She shrugged "He doesn't really need to meet anyone. He just like to feel useful and thinking or building are the tasks he's best at." Felix could understand that; he didn't enjoy talking with other people as they often made him feel alienated. That was part of why he was glad that he met Sylvia. She didn't think anything about how different Felix was, she was still willing to help regardless.

Suddenly Felix spotted a bright silver spot on the horizon, quickly approaching the two of them on the dock. "Is that our ride?" Sylvia nodded "Yes, but don't stare. He's self-conscious about his image." Felix didn't know what to think of a ship captain that had image problems. The silver vessel quickly approached, glistening in the early day sun. As the boat docked, he noticed that it was much larger than he expected. Normally he thought of a boat as something like a motor boat, like what he went crabbing in with his Uncle Lawrence up in Oregon. What he did not expect was the large silver cargo ship that was large enough to fit a good sized whale. The gleam from its proud stern forced Felix to look away, amazed at the size of such a vessel. He dared to continue gazing at such a marvel, unsure of how it was made in this world of battles and monsters. Sylvia nudged him to draw his attention from the cargo and towards their captain.

So far, Felix had met mostly humanoid, quadrupeds, or avian Pokémon, but nothing that dwelled solely in the water. To be honest, their captain was probably the hardest creature for him to get used to. It at first seemed ordinary, a long slender white and pink body with small arms and a large sail fin. Then there was his face, or rather head. The majority of it composed of a large clear bubble surrounding his brain. He knew that it was surrounding his brain because he could see the wrinkly pink mass through the bubble, radiating waves of thought. The rest of his face consisted of small nose slits, pink whiskers like a catfish, and lips that were so large that he probably could fit Felix's head in his mouth with ease. The creature as a whole was unsettling at least and downright disgusting at worst.

He seemed to have laid his short flabby arms on the dock to talk to Sylvia and Felix, eager to take them to a strange island that could possibly be where a nuclear monster was waiting for them. _"Are you two Felix and Sylvia?"_ Hearing the brain eel speaking mentally without his large pink lips creeped him out to a new level, so Felix decided to look at the dock to avoid looking at the strange creature. _"Yes, Felix and I have been assigned to go to Nuclear Plant and help contain the situation."_ Sylvia sounded so formal that Felix almost didn't recognize her mental voice. The brain eel smiled, or maybe he was just stretching his lips, Felix couldn't be sure.

 _"Alright then, welcome aboard The S.S. Tesla."_ As he said this, the gangplank extended from The S.S. Tesla towards the dock, stopping short of Felix's feet. The brain eel swam to a porthole on the side of the ship and wriggled inside, probably to the controls. "Ready to go Felix?" "Sure" What else could he say? He was about to board a ship named The S.S. Tesla piloted by an eel with his brain exposed alongside one of his favorite Pokémon to an island that he may not return from. Welcome to Tandor, he thought to himself.


	23. Chapter 23: Alessandro

Chapter 23: Alessandro

The interior of the cargo ship wasn't as glamorous as he thought the techy name S.S. Tesla stated. The overall feeling was clean, yet chaotic, something similar to an industrial shipping unit with crates of supplies littering the silver interior. The area was lit by small bulbs that were outfitted into the hull of the ship. The motor was however top rate, as the motor hummed along quietly and didn't lurch unexpectedly. He leaned against one of the empty crates labeled "T.N.P #1 Supplies" while Sylvia hoisted herself on top of another wooden crate.

Both of them were anxious about what would happen when they arrived at their destination. To distract himself from what may be his impending doom, Felix decided to continue asking Sylvia questions (he really couldn't do much else socially, as talking was rather difficult). "What are these supplies for at the plant?" Sylvia looked up from the ground, making herself less anxious as well. "The plant requires constant shipments of food and mechanical supplies to the island. The plant isn't just where power is generated, it's where they do their tinkering." "You mean like Nikola and Archie do?" She nodded "Yes. Our captain, Philip, is one of the lead tinkerers in brain to machine interfacing. He likes piloting his ship so he often brings in the weekly shipments." Felix thought that Philip was an odd name for a brain eel, or whatever he was. "What is Philip?" Sylvia nodded understandingly.

"Philip is what is called a Brainoar. They are native to Tandor and aren't able to live anywhere else. The only other Tandor native you've met was Flash the Theriamp. Almost all of them prefer to stay in Tandor, so most people don't meet them." "Then how did Nikola meet Philip if they don't leave the region?" Sylvia shrugged "I'm not sure. Nikola won't say what region he comes from and neither does anyone else. My best guess is that Nikola came to Tandor first and then traveled all the way to Hoenn by himself." "What about Alessandro? I heard him telling you about someone named Alessandro."

Sylvia looked absolutely shocked to hear him say that. "How did you hear that?" she urged. "Nikola said it before he warped us to the dock. He said 'find Alessandro for me' and I was wondering who that is." "Nikola didn't say that, at least not out loud. He was talking to me telepathically in full confidence. How did you hear us?" she asked. Felix didn't know how he did it, so what could he say? "I don't know how I did it, I just heard it." "Have you been listening to other conversations unintentionally? It is still rude to listen to someone else's conversation, even if you can read their thoughts." she stated accusingly. "I don't know how I'm doing it. It seems to be that I can hear what you hear mentally, like there is some sort of connection between us."

Sylvia's gaze became less scathing and something along the lines of awe and understanding. Her vivid ruby eyes were calculating as if she understood what it means. "Is there something wrong with that?" he asked, hoping that he didn't have some sort of mental illness. Sylvia shock her head to clear her thoughts and looked back at Felix. "It's nothing Felix, just something very interesting. To answer your question, Alessandro is his brother and he wants me to find him and cure him if necessary. He's his only family left after all he's been through." Felix thought on this. The idea that he would be separated entirely from his family always made him feel lonely, so he understood what Nikola was feeling (even if he really didn't understand just how much he was going through). Now he had to make sure that this nuclear menace would stop his endless thirst for destruction. He could not let him tear apart families with his rampant thirst for control.

The two of them waited in silence, patient for the time that they would have to defeat the nuclear menace himself. Suddenly the boat stopped moving beneath his feet, signifying that Philip had stopped. _"Okay Guardians, we're here. Nuclear Plant #1. Hope that both of you can help with this dilemma at hand."_ Felix heard Philip speak telepathically. This is it. As the doors of the ship opened sideways and the plank extended, Felix and Sylvia stood up and walked hand-in-hand to proceed onto the Island where the nuclear menace was. It was now time to end his reign of terror.


	24. Chapter 24: Alexander

Chapter 24: Alexander

Felix had yet been inside of a nuclear power plant. He had been to hydroelectric and coal power plants, but he always wanted to view the inside of a nuclear plant. Seeing as he was currently on a mission to defeat a massive nuclear being, his first time inside the plant would be significantly less enjoyable. The scent of salty seas greeted Felix and Sylvia as they walked onto the wooden dock. The plant was nowhere in sight, but Felix could feel the power radiating from the island itself. The collections of various tropical trees and vines blanketed the island in an eerie silence. He could hear no bird calls or insect chirps (which was normal as most birds and bugs were significantly bigger in this world and could speak normally somewhat), only the lapping of the waves on the shore gave life to the otherwise dead silence.

There was something else about this island, something that felt beneath the surface but threatening to break free. An enormous power could be sensed among the foliage, waiting for them. Sylvia led the way along the uneven dirt path gracefully with Felix lumbering behind, occasionally smacked by a loose branch as they trekked forward. There were multiple directions that the foot worn path travelled, splitting off to various parts of the compound. Sylvia led him along the way confidently, taking the occasional turn as the journeyed deeper through the flora. "How do you know the way?" Felix questioned, as Sylvia told him earlier that she had not been here before. "Nikola told me the paths to take to get there. He rebuilt this plant with his brother ten years ago and on occasion came here for a visit." That detail was enough to satisfy Felix's desire to know for now, as there were bigger threats to deal with.

As the two of them marched forward, Felix had the feeling that something was watching them. It felt as though they were right behind him, but he never saw anything when he turned around to check. Sylvia was equally anxious, her large ruby eyes darting left and right fearfully as they journeyed. Something was wrong. Felix could feel a buzz in the air, similar to how he felt when Finn had emerged from the ground at the end of the tournament. Thinking on that made him extra cautious, knowing that something would emerge from the forest to meet them. The forest began to clear before them, opening into a small field that allowed more open movement of friend and foe alike.

The earth behind Felix erupted upwards, nearly tossing him off balance. Something was out there, he was sure of it. He saw a blur through the greenery, moving swiftly among the branches with ease. The creature entered the clearing, gazing around in search of something until it locked eyes with Felix. The creature was midnight black with neon green. It flapped its dark wings tipped with acid green claws to stay airborne. Its face was feline with large ears and a small nose, discolored acid green by radiation. It swished its striped tail back and forth without making a sound. Its feet were large and had well developed talons, perfect for a bird/cat of prey. It charged at Felix, screeching its furious battle cry.

Felix was only barely able to squat low enough for them to pass over head, rushing through the trees without injury. _"What was that?" "An Eshouten. Normally they only come out at night in the cover of darkness, but something is wrong with her. She seems to have been radiated, just like poor Finn."_ They conversed, circling in an attempt to find her again. They were about to rush to the other side in order to escape the clearing when something else emerged from the bushes, glowing a violent green.

The new creature that emerged was hunched over, much larger than its avian friend. Wing-like fins extended on the top of its head and back, followed by a long slender tail behind. Their arms were small and weak, but it was by no means defenseless. Beneath their hateful glowing eyes was a long tubular mouth, shaped much like a cannon. It pointed its face straight towards Felix and Sylvia, letting loose a volley of acid green globs. Felix wrapped himself defensively around Sylvia to protect her from the nuclear onslaught. Their projectiles hit him multiple times, but did not burn at his shell and tail. It felt as though he was at the receiving end of hot fists that could not burn him, but still slammed him mercilessly. Once the projectiles ceased, he dared to release Sylvia and face their opponent, or now opponents.

The Eshouten had regrouped with their tube mouthed friend and was eagerly flapping its wings silently. The two of them looked fierce and relentless, as if Felix and Sylvia were foes that must be dealt with swiftly. He took his defensive pose alongside Sylvia, both ready to defend themselves against nuclear foes. Felix put up a Quick Guard in hopes of being able to prepare for an onslaught, but it would not last as long as he needed it to. The Eshouten slashed their claws through the air with an acid green energy that slammed into the barrier and shattered it immediately. Tube face was preparing to launch another round of his acidic projectiles when Sylvia released a powerful blast of sound with Hyper Voice.

The sound rolled over the two foes powerfully, nearly knocking Tube face's balance off. Even though the two nuclear Pokémon were hit by Hyper Voice, they did not let up on their assault. Eshouten started to glow a furiously bright green and darted up into the sky, preparing to execute a move he didn't quite remember (even he was shocked that he didn't know). Meanwhile Tube face fired a light green beam towards Felix and Sylvia from its open maw, draining the two of them of energy. As it used Giga Drain, its avian friend swooped down from the sky and hit Felix straight in the chest. He was unable to defend himself against his foe's Sky Attack and was thrown back into the dirt barrier behind him. The drain from taking the blow combined with the Giga Drain made him unable to stand up and face them.

He could see the glee in the Eshouten's and Tube face's eyes, pleased at their easy victory. They prepared to make the final blows, both of them charging up large emerald beams to destroy the opposition. Felix tried to make a last ditch effort by charging up a Mud Shot, but something else hit first. A swath of golden stars that seemingly came from Sylvia pounded Eshouten and Tube face relentlessly, releasing clouds of golden sparkles. _"Thanks Sylvia"_ Sylvia looked very confused to be thanked. _"I didn't do that."_ She responded confused. If she didn't do that, then who did?

Suddenly a small gray creature emerged from the brush, standing defensively in front of Felix and Sylvia. The creature was fairly small, only about two feet tall. It had a large green tail and two tall ears that were unattached from its body, seemingly floating. It looked strangely familiar, not like the two nuclear Pokémon that were attacking. It didn't turn to attack Felix and Sylvia, but instead faced the other Nuclear Pokémon. It began to charge small blue spheres in front of its head, or what he thought was its head. It fired its Hidden Power at the Nuclear Pokémon, further angering them. The Nuclear Pokémon were starting to be weakened by the onslaught of the newcomer, losing the intense acidic fire behind their eyes.

To finish them off, the small Nuclear Pokémon took a deep breath in and released a sonic burst that was more powerful than Sylvia's, releasing bright green energy along the sound waves. The Nuclear duo was overpowered by this small creature, both of them falling backwards into the trees behind them. They both fell unconscious simultaneously, unable to continue battling. It was amazing to have seen this little creature having taken on two much larger Pokémon without fear or hesitation. Who was that? "Thank you" he said out loud, in hopes of trying to talk to it. Its floating ears twitched at hearing Felix address it. It turned to face him and shocked him. Not literally shocked him, more like he just couldn't believe what he saw.

It had a small black nose with three large sky blue eyes, staring with great intensity. It also had three triangular points extending from a small blue point in the middle of its light gray chest, like a cross between a radioactive symbol and a bow tie. It was an interesting creature that still looked similar for some reason. The creature bowed its head and then looked at Felix and Sylvia. Then it spoke in a fizzling voice, similar to Nikolas. "You're welcome. My name is Alexander and I must know why you two are here. It isn't safe here." Alexander was certainly full of surprises, and since it was able to help them in their endeavors, it was probably a good idea to talk with him. So the three of them sat/laid down to rest and converse together about all that has happened.


	25. Chapter 25: Nucleon

Chapter 25: Nucleon

After getting hit square in the chest by a nuclear flying cat, Felix was glad to be able to sit down and talk with the creature that had defended him. He laid himself down so that he could continue speaking with Alexander while Sylvia inspected his shell and tail for injuries. "Why are you here? The island is under quarantine for nuclear cleanup." Alexander buzzed curiously. Sylvia told Felix that he could trust him and started to tell him about Finn and how they were assigned to help control the situation here in Tandor. He explained how they got on the S.S. Tesla and came to the island and then their encounter with Eshouten and Tube face (Which Alex corrected by saying Tube face was something called a Trawpint). After telling him about why they were there, Felix asked him why he was here and if he knew anything about the incident.

The nuclear creature shuffled himself uneasily in his sphinx like pose as he prepared to tell them the details. "Three weeks ago, the reactor was churning along as it normally does. Alessandro was supervising while Athena, Edward, and I were tinkering, trying to make a telepathic machine interface that would be more portable. While we tinkered, the alarms started blaring, alerting us to a problem with the reactor. The three of us were just newly assigned, so we weren't quite sure of what to do. We decided to head down to the nuclear chamber to see if Alessandro knew what we could do. Athena, Edward, and I step into the reactor room and were immediately overcome with a powerful blast of nuclear energy. We were taught how to handle the Uranium and had even loaded the reactor several times, but we never were exposed to nearly as much radiation as what met us in the chamber. A massive creature, towering over twelve feet tall, greeted us as 'his minions' and proceeded to irradiate us. Athena was hit first, falling to the ground without any resistance. He proceeded to blast Edward and then me with nuclear energy, but I was not taken to the ground like my friends.

"Instead my body was charged by this power and became something different. I was transformed into this strange gray and green version of my species called Nucleon." He took a break from speaking to adjust how he sat on his small green feet. After he sat down, he proceeded to tell his tale. "After I turned into a Nucleon, the massive figure before started to speak to me in my head, almost telepathically. He told me he was Urayne and how he wanted to infuse everyone with his great power. He congratulated me on being able to become his minion, but I resisted. I saw Alessandro and my friends wake up with a crazy gleam in their eyes; feral, hungry for power, and chaotic. 'I want no part in this' I told him. Urayne only grew larger, swelling with a mixture of anger and pride. 'Well then, I have no use of you. Alessandro, destroy him and the rest of them.'

"Alessandro turned to face me with his eyes full of power and rage. He began to fire bolts of nuclear energy towards me, firing shot after shot without mercy. I could only run from the chamber in hopes of warning the others. I would talk to the various other workers about the threat while being chased by Alessandro. None of them were able to take me seriously and were quickly taken down and converted into Nuclear creatures. I was the only one that retained their sanity, all of the others immediately falling under Urayne's control. They would try to attack me, but I was always better at battling than most of them. I escaped from the plant and tried to find Philip so that I could get off, but he was under hot pursuit from Athena.

"Two weeks later, a Swampert came to the island to help with cleanup. I tried to warn him, but he thought I was an enemy. He attacked me, drawing his attention away from the real threat of Alessandro coming to help 'reform' him. I tried to intercept, but Alessandro was faster. The Swampert was a minion of Urayne. He was assigned to try and find something, and then went swimming up north. I've been stuck here ever since, trying to escape and help warn everyone." At the end of Alexander's tale, Felix was thinking about all that had happened here. How much things had changed because of Urayne. He was still tired however, getting in a nuclear battle.

"I see that you both are exhausted. I'll watch to make sure that Athena and Edward don't disturb us again." Alexander stood up to begin watching over Sylvia and Felix. As he lied there trying to take a nap in the noon day sun, he thought of how Alexander had his friends turned into ravaging beasts. He looked at Sylvia resting against the trunk of an oak tree, breathing deeply. Felix hoped he wouldn't have to experience what Alexander did, losing his friends, perhaps even permanently. He rested in hopes of being strong enough to defend the people, especially Sylvia.


	26. Chapter 26: The Mirror

Chapter 26: The Mirror

Taking a nap was never something that Felix enjoyed; he normally functioned just fine on five to six hours of sleep. Of course he never had been attacked by nuclear creatures and then had to prepare to fight a twelve-foot uranium giant. He slept comfortably on the ground while Alexander watched over them. Felix woke up a few hours later, sometime around sunset. Alexander was looking at him warily with his sky blue eyes. It was not a pleasant sight to awaken with an unfamiliar face, especially one that had an eye in the center of their forehead. He was startled at this sight and got up quickly. Felix brushed himself off and asked how Alexander was. "Fine. Athena and Edward slinked away a few hours ago, but didn't bother us. They probably went back to Urayne, as they have lost their will to do otherwise." Alexander buzzed.

"Why don't you fall under his control?" Felix asked. "I do not know. It may have something with how my transformation is different from the others. Regardless, we'll need to get in the plant and stop him from causing more havoc." He turned towards the other side of the clearing at the continuation of the path. "Let's go, we don't have much time before he comes to us." Alexander urged. Sylvia and Felix followed their little friend through the forest towards ground zero.

The two of them ate as they continued down the path, eating their small poffins and Occa berry juice to keep up their energy. Sylvia asked if Alexander wanted any, but he declined. "I don't need the energy as much as you two do. I've hardly had to eat these last three weeks." While that was an interesting little factoid to think of as they were heading towards the plant, it was somewhat sad. Felix enjoyed eating (sometimes a little too much). After a while, they finally had arrived at the entrance to Nuclear Plant #1. The structure was built into the ground, constructed in a way that made it look as if it emerged from the earth. The material it was composed of was dark and metallic with a slight blue sheen, not like anything he knew of. It appeared to be in good repair, with no large holes or other forms of damage to be seen.

Alexander led them towards the large metal doors, which apparently remained wide open from Alexander's escape. Inside was dimly lit and had an odd metallic taste/scent. The dark corridor split onto two different tiled paths, one labeled 'Tinker Chambers', the other 'Reactor'. On the wall dividing the different paths stood a tall mirror with a golden trim. The eerie lighting around the edges made the mirror seem important and yet foreboding. "What's so important about the mirror?" Felix asked Alexander. He turned down the path towards the reactor room and stood between Felix and Sylvia in front of the mirror.

"This mirror was the last combined project by the original three; Philip, Alessandro, and Nikola. They were excellent in their field, combining telepathy with machinery in integrative systems. Nikola wanted to make a mirror that would show his greatest ambition. They asked him why he wanted to build it so badly, but he wouldn't say. He insisted on the project, so Philip and Alessandro caved and helped him build it. The project went along smoothly and they finished it in five months. Nikola was so proud to have his mirror, trying to show it to everyone at the plant. The responses were positive, so he gazed into it himself to see his ambition. Alessandro watched as his brother's face went pale in a mixture of awe and shock. Nikola said he needed to go somewhere immediately, stammering about its importance. Alessandro said he needed to stop this nonsense, but Nikola flew away north before his brother could knock some sense into him."

"He still comes here, doesn't he Sylvia?" Sylvia looked back at Felix to her left. "Yes, every now and then Nikola will make the trip here. It has been a while since his last visit…" she explained. Alexander nodded. "Alessandro has talked about his visits before, but I've only been here for a few months." He noted. Felix felt pulled towards the mysterious mirror. It felt odd and yet at the same time, familiar. He gazed into the mirrors depths, trying to see what lurked in the reflective surface. At first, it appeared just to be a normal reflection. Felix and Sylvia were standing side by side, but then he noticed something different.

The Felix and Sylvia in the mirror were holding hands. That in itself was not out of the ordinary until he saw a large golden band around both of their left hands, smiling proudly. Sylvia was holding a small bundle of white cloth gingerly in her right arm. He wondered what was in the bundle when it shuffled and was revealed to have a pair of emerald green eyes on a small white head, seemingly wearing a green helmet.

Felix's blood turned cold, absolutely frigid in his veins. He stepped back fearfully, frightened by how much the mirror revealed to him about himself. How could the mirror know? How did it know one of the few things that he held dearest? Alexander and Sylvia were trying to understand what just happened. "Are you okay? What did you see?" Sylvia pleaded. Felix couldn't breathe, the air seemed to have gotten forty degrees colder and constricted in his throat. He shook his head, not wanting to go over such an intimate part of his self. Sylvia seemed to understand how he was feeling about what he saw. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She stated.

He shook his head again, eager to continue their march to Urayne. "Let's go" he urged, hoping that he could try and forget the scene through mortal terror. Alexander looked at Felix skeptically, not certain it was a good idea to press forward. He didn't complain and swiftly ran down the dark hallway. Felix was lost in the dark, until Sylvia produced a small blue flame in her right hand. She then grabbed Felix's right hand with her left and started walking in pursuit of their nuclear friend.

As they walked, he couldn't help but think on what the mirror thought was his deepest ambition. He had occasionally thought about the idea of marrying Sylvia idly, but he didn't think that could happen. He was a human brought to this world, she was a native who already had someone. Still, the idea of having a family was something he desired (another teasing point for his friends that had girlfriends). As they kept walking towards the largest nuclear creature in the world that they know of, he wondered if he would be able to follow his dream, with Sylvia or otherwise.


	27. Chapter 27: Urayne

Chapter 27: Urayne

The chill tiles beneath his feet began to warm up as they got closer to the reactor door. Felix could feel power streaming from behind the thick metal doors, braising his armored skin with radiation. Sylvia seemed to be affected as well, her breathes becoming shallower from the ionized air. The chamber door was closed, but he could see a bright green light flowing from out of the cracks and seems in it. The massive round metal door swung outwards, as Alexander had pushed it open from inside the chamber. Immediately the power and light flowing from inside washed over Felix and Sylvia as they walked inside. The intensity was near enough to stop him from entering, but he had a job to do.

The interior was spherical in design with a path around the rim to the control center, which was now in ruins. The large chamber's floor was covered with smooth and malformed metal, as if it was melted and then cooled quickly. In the very center was a large green and black obelisk, engraved with odd curved patterns. It had a small antenna on top with two small blue orbs lazily circling a larger green one. It was obvious that the hunk of metal in the center was the source of power that overwhelmed Felix and Sylvia, while Alexander watched intensely with his blue eyes. The orbs that rotated around its antenna suddenly started to accelerate.

The obelisk started to move, having two sections around the middle break off and become arms with black fingers and green fists. A small blue sphere in the middle started to become active, having green lines circling around it. The whole figure started to rise into the air on its own accord. At the base of the antenna, two blue eyes opened above their green cheeks. The creature was not quite as large as Alexander said it was, only about eight feet tall overall. The poisonous blue eyes stared at Felix and Sylvia with glee. It then let loose a crackling sound that sounded like a mix between laughter and lightning.

"Welcome. I have been expecting you two." Urayne voiced in a deep rumble (which was odd as he didn't seem to have a mouth. "I was afraid you wouldn't be coming, if Finn hadn't been so helpful as to have found you. I sensed your presence when you first arrived and have been eager to meet you." Felix wasn't sure how to respond, especially since he didn't know exactly what Urayne was talking about. "I've felt great power before, but never anything quite as powerful as you 'O Spiky One'. You will be my greatest minion of all, although not quite as powerful as me. I was hoping that your gooey friend would have come too, but I see you have someone else for me to have. I think I'll start with her." Urayne raised his hands together and started to collect an emerald energy.

"No!" Felix bellowed as he reflexively wrapped himself around Sylvia to defend her from the nuclear blast. Urayne fired his emerald beam and hit poor Felix square in the back, between his spines. He had never felt anything nearly as corrosive or energetic as that single energy blast. He could feel the stream of radiation penetrating his shell, lodging itself deeper inside. The agony was unbearable, as if Urayne was pouring lava down and into his shell. His pain was only briefly lifted once Urayne stopped his radioactive attack. Felix was surprised that he was still standing, although it still felt as if his shell was on fire. He unwrapped himself from around Sylvia and turned his attention to his attacker.

Urayne seemed shocked that Felix was not burned to a crisp or turned into a nuclear creature like himself. "You are more resilient than I thought, and yet you waste your resilience on her. Let me finish empowering her and then you could join her." "No, I won't let you destroy her. You haven't had a real fight yet, so I think I should introduce you to the concept." "A battle? HA Ha Ha Ha…." Urayne boomed with laughter, apparently finding the idea humorous. _"Felix, what are you thinking?"_ Sylvia asked with a mixture of surprise and confusion. _"I need to take him down; I'm the only one that can take his attacks without being immediately irradiated. I need to do this Sylvia."_ Sylvia seemed to try and take in what Felix was saying, her eyes scanning his to understand his motive.

Urayne had stopped laughing and was turning his attention back to the challenger. "I am infinitely more powerful than you could even dream of, you can't even begin to weaken me, much less defeat." "So you are too cowardly to accept my challenge?" he taunted. Urayne looked extremely torqued at what Felix said. "So you think you can face me? Even if you manage to survive longer than the others, you'll still become my minion or worse. Fine, I accept your challenge, if you can even call it that. I'll even gather an audience to watch me destroy you." A wave rolled out from the antenna on Urayne's head and spread out, carrying a message of an imminent battle.

Felix and Sylvia could feel the other nuclear creatures coming from the metal door behind them, streaming with power, rage, and chaos. The horde was gathering in a large circle around the four of them, effectively providing a barricade to prevent their escape. Felix couldn't name any of the creatures that surrounded him except for Athena the Eshouten and Edward the Trawpint. After the crowd surrounded them, a single creature separated themselves from the crowd and came up to Urayne to converse. The creature looked exactly like Nikola, except turned black and green from the absorption of nuclear energy. Sylvia recognized him, mentally saying _"Alessandro"._ Urayne and Alessandro floated and seemed to speak without words, neither having mouths to talk with.

Felix was beginning to feel nervous, unsure if he truly could take down Urayne. And yet, he still had a feeling in his heart that he was supposed to do this and that he needed to. _"You don't need to do this Felix; we could face him together." "I need to do this Sylvia. It feels, right for me to face him alone. I'll be fine."_ Sylvia seemed to be seeing something inside of him, her eyes wide with awe. She accepted the fact that Felix needed to do this alone, nodding her head. Felix looked at Alexander to see if he approved. The small Nucleon sat in a cat-like pose, his three eyes accepting what Felix needed to do. He turned to face his opponent, the beast who wanted to corrupt everyone so that they could be like him.

Never before had Felix known something as much as he was sure that he could prevent Urayne from causing further harm. With his shell burning in pain from the last blow, Felix waited for Alessandro to signal that the fight would start. He raised his arm and then lowered it swiftly, signaling for the battle to begin, perhaps Felix's last one.


	28. Chapter 28: Hubris

Chapter 28: Hubris

Felix knew it would be hopeless to use Quick Guard, as the last time he used it against a Nuclear Pokémon, they tore through it without any trouble. He decided to go on the offensive by charging up a Seed Bomb between his hands. It was somehow much more difficult for him to do this, as if being around Urayne made it harder to charge up. He was finally able to produce his Grass type projectile and swiftly hurled it at Urayne's chest. Urayne only seemed amused at the measly seed, as he started to swell with a violet aura. His body grew as the Seed Bomb inched closer, swelling proudly as the projectile hit home.

Urayne wasn't even fazed by the small disturbance, as he was sixteen feet tall when it hit. Felix had no idea how Urayne was able to grow so rapidly; no move coming to mind to help explain it. "Now it's my turn." Urayne boomed as he charged up an emerald beam in his hands. Felix was frozen at the spot with fear, not sure of how he could defeat the titan of uranium. He only barely was able to move as the emerald beam was fired where Felix was moments ago. Urayne was mildly bothered that he missed his first shot, but continued to fire them relentlessly as Felix ran in circles around him. Felix needed to find something that he could hit, trying to examine Urayne as he continuously dodged the emerald beams.

He thought about the strange sphere in the center of Urayne's chest. He noticed that it was now glowing a vibrant violet. This moment of distraction was enough for Urayne to get a shot at Felix's tail with a direct hit. He felt the searing pain of his tail being cooked by the immense stream of radioactive energy. On top of the damage done to his shell, Felix was unable to hold back the shrill scream of pain that erupted from his throat. Urayne seemed to take pleasure in his pain, his eyes flickering purple with a gleam of enjoyment. Urayne floated closer to Felix, preparing to land a final blow. Felix would not take the hit lying down, preparing a Power-Up Punch to retaliate.

He rushed towards his foe, his glowing fists ready to attack. Urayne looked amused at Felix's efforts to attack him, only growing larger again. When Felix was about to hit him, Urayne was now a staggering thirty feet tall. His antenna almost brushed the top of the chamber. He felt insignificant as he prepared to land his blow. He repeatedly hit him at the bottom of his massive black chest, trying to put everything into each blow. Instead of his strength increasing, Felix felt his power diminish as the blows landed without damaging Urayne. Urayne raised a massive fist, glowing the acid green of a Nuclear attack. Felix ended his onslaught so that he could attempt to defend himself from a fist that was the size of a truck. He raised his Spiky Shield as the Atomic Punch fell on him with full force.

The shield was not strong enough to hold up against the immense power and Felix quickly crumbled to the ground. He laid there in pain, unsure of what he could do to a foe that could grow continuously and had no mercy. Urayne picked him up in his large black fingers, warm from the energy that flowed through him. He was lifted into the air and thrown at the chamber wall, smashing into it at full force. He could feel several of his spines were broken, perhaps his shell as well. He lay on the ground face first, his shell and tail in immense pain from Urayne's throw.

He felt crushed both physically and spiritually by this battle, if you could even call it that. Urayne boomed with thunderous laughter, believing that Felix was beaten fair and square. His chorus of Nuclear Pokémon joined him in his triumph. Felix looked at Alexander and Sylvia, their eyes pleading him to keep fighting, never giving up. The sight of Sylvia's pleading stare made him feel something inside. There was still someone to protect, still someone he could trust. He couldn't let them down, not when he knew exactly what he needed to do.

He lifted himself off of the warm metallic surface and began to address Urayne. "You think I have been beaten? I still have some unfinished business with you Urayne." Urayne turned his massive body towards Felix once more and began to speak, his voice amplified by his enormous size. "What business? You are weak and inferior, a puny mortal that has to rely on others for his own safety. I am a god and you are just a nuisance. I have no weakness. Nothing you can do will even scratch my power, much less my body. If you aren't dead yet, you soon will be." Something about his use of the word god resonated with a force that was inside of him. He felt a familiar presence with him, trying to help Felix say what had to be said.

"I am not alone Urayne. I have always had someone beside me to help lead me and guide me, walk beside me as I travel through life. I admit that I am not perfect, only someone who is trying to do his best, unlike you. You think that you have no weakness, that you are a god in the perfect meaning of the word. You are not a god, just someone who refuses to acknowledge their hubris." The words flowed from Felix's mouth in a way that he wasn't quite sure who was speaking. It felt as if someone was using his mouth to speak.

This strange yet familiar presence filled him with a power that was not his own. The energy made him glow with a bright luminescence that outshone Urayne, filling the dark chamber with brilliant white light. The wounds on his back and tail no longer mattered, he had some humbling to do. "Let me remind you of your weakness!" Felix yelled, preparing for a mad dash towards the prideful giant. Urayne's eyes were filled with shock, trying to comprehend what they saw. The energy flowed from his gut to his entire form, urging him to rush with the power and speed of a bullet train, threatening to trample the crowd surrounding Urayne. He ran faster and faster, gaining speed as he leaped upwards straight at Urayne's massive chest. "BE THOU HUMBLE!" he bellowed as he slammed his fist directly into the violet orb that gave Urayne his power.

The light that enveloped him burst from his body as his fist connected to the orb, giving off a massive flash that expanded outwards. Felix could hear the cries of Urayne as his power withdrew from his body, but there seemed to be two screams at the same time. The Nuclear Giant fell to the ground with a massive thud, all of the spectators having retreated from there first. Felix landed on the ground safely and watched as Urayne's body shrunk down from its titanic size until he was only about as large as Felix was. The violet glow was gone, the blue circuitry running through his body fading to black. His eyes dimmed until it appeared to be that Urayne was no longer awake, or perhaps even alive. The silence left by Urayne's fall was deafening, no creature stirred as the Uranium titan had fallen. Felix was grateful for being able to defeat him, but once the presence left him, the pain from the damage done to his shell and tail increased tenfold.

As the other Nuclear Pokémon fell to the ground in sporadic burst of energy, Felix turned to see his friends and also fell to the ground in immense agony. He could feel the Nuclear energy in his shell and tail burning intensely, attempting to destroy him from the inside. Sylvia looked very concerned as she examined his shell, even Alexander's blank face was anxious about Felix's condition. Sylvia started to try and release waves of Heal Pulse to help Felix heal, but it provided little relief on top of the damage already done.

She was exhausting herself in the effort to try and keep Felix alive, but he knew that it was hopeless at this point. "Sylvia, stop it. It's not going to work. You need to get Nikola and Archie here to help clean up this mess. You need to conserve your strength for your job." Sylvia shock her head in denial, tears slowly rolling down her white cheeks. "I'm not giving up on you Felix. It's not your time yet." She tenderly held Felix's large hand, trying to comfort him through his pain. "It's okay Sylvia, I'll be fine…" he whispered as he closed his eyes once more. The dream he saw in the mirror appeared in his mind as he slipped through darkness, the image of the green eyed child waving goodbye.


	29. Chapter 29: Dreams

Chapter 29: Dreams

Felix was not afraid of death; he had always thought of it as the release of his duties in life. He was however confused about what he was now experiencing, as it was definitely not death (or at least any form of death he heard of). He was stuck in a pink and purple void, devoid of anything that looked familiar or even real. He could hear whispers that sounded like his friends Nikola and Archie, but he couldn't tell what they were saying.

"Boo!" something said as it suddenly appeared in front of Felix's face. He freaked out for a moment, trying to hit whatever had appeared. The apparition merely drifted backwards to avoid getting smashed. The creature was giggling about Felix's reaction. He looked closely at the strange Pokémon.

It was very unusual, having periwinkle skin with pink markings all over their body. It had a body and two arms, all three floating independently of each other. Their face was periwinkle with light pink cheeks, large horns on either side of its head, a pink ponytail, and a mischievous smile. It also had large golden hoops hanging from his horns and a large golden ring around its midsection. The creature opened its eyes, lime green with yellow whites and a gaze that made everything look like a joke.

"Hello Felix. Do you recognize me?" the creature asked in a playful tone. Their voice sounded like a ten-year-old that thought life itself was something to be laughed at. Felix remembered what this mischievous creature was. "Hoopa" "Yay! I knew you would recognize me!" Hoopa clapped with his glove-like hands as he expressed sarcastic joy. "Where am I?" Felix asked as Hoopa halted his clapping. "Hmm…I believe we are in my playroom, or is it my living room? I'm not sure." Hoopa shrugged, or at least the next best thing when you don't have shoulders.

"Anyway, you are in my home for now." "But how did I get here?" Hoopa seemed amused at Felix's curiosity. "Well, you nearly died and now I get to talk with you for a couple minutes. Isn't that wonderful?" Felix wasn't sure how to react to his unusual comment, so he dully replied "sure". Hoopa didn't look very excited to hear that. "C'mon Felix, don't you want to know why I brought you to this world? I've been wanting to talk with you since I ringed you from your old world to this one." "Ringed?" Hoopa bared a grin as he took the two rings off of his large black horns. The rings expanded until they were large enough to fit around Felix's arms.

"Put your hand through this ring and I'll show you." He held the rings so that Felix could put in either arm. The center of the ring was filled with the inky darkness that Dr. Goo arrived through. Felix thrust his arm into the ring on the right and suddenly slugged his left arm. Hoopa laughed after seeing Felix punch himself, but Felix was too engrossed by the strange phenomenon to care. Where his arm went through the ring on the right, it suddenly appeared through the left ring. The inky darkness was strangely neutral, neither warm nor cold.

Felix withdrew his arm, watching it disappear from the left ring. "Pretty cool, huh?" Hoopa said as the rings were shrunken down and placed back around his horns. Felix nodded; the rings did explain how he got to the Pokémon world in the first place among other things. The question of why remained however. "Why did you bring me here?" Hoopa smiled, pleased to finally hear the question he was looking for. "My boss asked me to, he said that I needed to bring you here to be part of something bigger. He also helped transform you into a Chesnaught so that you could blend in with the others. I even had to perfectly time your arrival so you could meet Sylvia, although I may have been a little late." This flood of information was starting to overwhelm poor Felix, who had little idea what Hoopa was talking about. He decided to start with a simple question.

"Who is your boss?" "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that one. He'll speak with you at a later date." He grinned. "When you said 'something bigger', were you talking about Albert's prophecy?" Hoopa shook his head, his large rings swinging side to side. "Nah, I was talking about Sylvia's prophecy. If you want to hear it, ask her. I have noticed however that the two of you are very…how should I say it…close?" Felix was beginning to feel nervous about his chat with Hoopa, as it was taking a different direction than he expected it to. "Do you…'like' her?" Hoopa asked as he zoomed in closer to his face, his grin accenting what he was getting at. Felix refused to say anything, but he could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks. Hoopa pulled back, satisfied with what he saw.

"Alright, I won't push. Just wonderin'. Do you have anything you do want to tell me?" Hoopa questioned, accenting the word 'do'. Felix did want to tell him some of the more unusual events of his endeavors in this world. He told Hoopa about the nightmare he had Friday night and his strange power that helped him defeat Urayne. Hoopa pondered Felix's story, wondering what to tell him. "The nightmare may have something to do with your next challenge, but I don't know for sure. Your strange power however did not come from your transformation; it came from something that you carry with you wherever you go. It is part of why you're here Felix, we need you here."

Felix felt that he knew what Hoopa was talking about, but he was still not certain what he was going to do next. A strange tugging sensation began to pull at his head, trying to bring him away from his conversation. "What's tugging me?" "Looks like you're waking up from this dream Felix; it was fun talking to you." Hoopa looked disappointed that he couldn't continue his little chat with Felix. Then his green eyes lit up as the tugging increased. "Before you go Felix, there's something I need to tell you. Your father still hears you, so keep talking to him. He still loves you."

Hoopa said it so sincerely that Felix wasn't quite sure if he was being serious or was trying to pull off a mean prank. "What?" "Just trust me Felix; you know who I'm talking about." The tugging then turned into a more aggressive pull, dragging Felix away from Hoopa. "Oh, and about your scriptures. I lost them somewhere. I'll give it to you as soon as I find it!" Hoopa yelled as Felix was pulled farther and farther from him. "Will we see each other again?" Felix yelled. He could see Hoopa nodding and heard him mentally saw _"I will see you later, but you won't like it. It won't be as fun as this was."_ Felix wasn't sure if their chat about him 'liking' Sylvia would be considered 'fun', but he would miss talking with the purple mischief Pokémon.


	30. Chapter 30: Sacrafice

Chapter 30: Sacrifice

Felix woke with a start, unsure of where he was and what happened. He just had a dream about Hoopa and was now back in the medical chamber where he was treated for his radiation burns last time, the scent of anti-septic more prevalent this time. There were bandages wrapped around his torso, probably to help him with his injuries. He looked around to see if anyone was there to talk to, his memories of the dream still fresh in his head.

He saw Nikola off in the corner, standing guard of the door out to the rest of the lab. He had his arms crossed, staring pensively to the ground. Felix was shifting his weight on his bed, lying in the upright position. Nikola shifted his vision from the ground to Felix, his face lighting up when he saw that he was awake. "Nice to see you're up Felix. I was worried that you wouldn't recover." He sparked. "How long have I been out?" "Not long, just since last night after you beat Urayne. You took quite a beating; we weren't sure you would make it." "Why do you say that?" Felix remembered how his spines had broken off, but the radiation couldn't have been that bad. Nikola nervously adjusted himself against the wall, unsure of what to say next. He gave a loud electric sigh and started to try explaining his injuries.

"Your shell and tail were severely damaged; not from the battle, just the sheer amount of radiation they absorbed. Andrew and I tried to find a way to remove the radiation safely, but it was in too deep. We had to…" Nikola became silent, unable to tell Felix what they did. It was then that Felix noticed that he was sitting on the bed on his back with no shell or tail to bother him. He felt much more exposed without his shell, he'd gotten used to having the large piece of armor on his back. He missed his tail somewhat as well, the counterbalance to his shell (the tail wasn't very useful otherwise). The fact that they were both removed made Felix a little sad, he enjoyed the utility of his spiny shell more than he thought he did. He felt much more…human now, exposed and vulnerable.

"I'm sorry Felix, it was the only way we could save you. The Nuclear energy was trying to spread throughout your body and we were only barely able to remove your tail and shell in time." Nikola buzzed apologetically, the sorrow in his voice genuine. "It's okay Nikola. You did what you had to do. To be honest, I kind of like not having a shell anymore. It makes it easier to walk, sit down, and now I can move faster." Nikola's sorrow dissipated, glad to hear that Felix was thinking positively. "Your right, it's not all bad. If you don't mind, could we keep your shell down here in the lab? I think it makes a great trophy for your first mission." "Mission?" (While it was unusual for someone to put a piece of him on display as a trophy, he was more concerned about his future here than anything.)

Nikola smacked his own face, an odd gesture to remind himself about something. "I almost forgot to tell you. While you and Sylvia were at the island, The Republic of Hoenn decided that you should be inaugurated as a Guardian. You did so well on this 'mission' that they came to the agreement that you are worthy to become a Guardian. They wanted to wait for your arrival home before it became official." Felix was very excited about this prospect; he would finally be an official Guardian! He wondered how everyone would feel about him assuming such a role, but he guessed he would do well enough. "When do I get inaugurated?" "Friday the fifteenth" "What day is it?" Nikola thought for a moment, probably unsure about that answer.

"I believe it is Tuesday, maybe late Monday." Felix just found another terrible event to place under his list of Tuesdays, but what did that matter? He was going to be a Guardian soon. If that wasn't good enough, what would be? He started to raise himself out of his medical bed, only to have Nikola spark in protest. "You're still healing Felix. I know your fan club wants to see you, but you're not quite ready to exert yourself that much." Felix sat back down, knowing that Nikola was probably right. He would just have to wait for his back to heal.

A thought came to his mind. "Where is Sylvia?" Nikola's face took on a graver tone. "Sylvia spent a lot of herself getting you here. It was the farthest she's teleported in her whole life. If she didn't worry about your injuries, I don't think she would have made the trip. She had to go and rest after such an exertion." Felix was glad to hear she was safe, knowing she was able to save him. He would have to wait before he could thank her for what she did. He laid his back down once more and let sleep drive away the many hours once more for his sacrifice to heal.


	31. Chapter 31: Homecoming

Chapter 31: Homecoming

When Nikola said fan club, Felix thought he was talking about the few people that would be awaiting him; mainly Archie, Slag, and Sylvia. After spending three days in the small medical room, Nikola said that it would be okay for him to leave so he could prepare for his inauguration. He told him that he expected the recovery time to be much longer, but his shell and tail were easily removed, which he said was quite unusual for a Chesnaught. Still, his shell wasn't going to grow back. The two of them removed his bandages to reveal no wounds on his back or where his tail was. Instead of white scales, the areas were covered by the flexible green armor that grew on his arms and tail. It wouldn't be as sturdy as his old shell, but it was definitely better than nothing.

Felix headed out the door and was surprised by the number of people that were there to see him. It appeared that most of the battlers from the tournament had been worried about his condition, able to discern Flash and Goggles, Festus and Jeremiah, Slag and Jason, Ken and Crystal, even Albert and Wukong lurked towards the back of the group. Others dispersed among the group were Lily, Thomas, Blade, Eriel, Josh, Andrew, Alexander, Archie, and a couple that appeared to be Mark and Carol. The mass of people turned their worried faces towards Felix as he left the room. Their eyes lit up to see that he was okay. He saw many of them smiling, except for Wukong, who appeared to be grimacing with his monkey face.

Slag was the first to call out, his metallic voice ringing through the lab. "Felix is okay!" he said as he rushed towards him with his bulky arms outstretched. Felix was buried by the mountain of metal as he gave him a hug. He didn't like hugs very much, but decided that it was okay for just this once to nearly get crushed by his friend. After he left the mountainous embrace, he was greeted by the thousand other people that were happy to see him well. Most of them didn't rush to embrace him like Slag did, but they were happy to shake hands with him and ask how he felt. "I'm doing well." he told most of them, trying to escape the throng of people. After he greeted them, most of them headed to the forward exit, still beaming with cheer for his well-being (except for Wukong, whose face was a mixture of a smirk and a leer).

One of them, Thomas, seemed morose. Felix talked to him to see what was up. "Nothing" the Gallade answered, his voice reflecting his mood. "Are you sure? You seem…down." Felix didn't know what to do about Thomas, he had a hard enough time trying to understand someone, much less help them. "I'm just glad you and Sylvia were able to help. It's nice to see the two of you coming back safe. I'm sorry you had to lose your shell." "It's okay, I kind of like the extra mobility." Thomas sighed, relief ebbing into his face. "That's nice to hear. See you tonight." Thomas waved as he left the building.

Felix knew something was wrong, Thomas was not acting like himself right then. He seemed to be saddened by the recent events. Maybe he was worried about Sylvia and how she was doing. But last he heard, Sylvia was just fine. Something much less obvious must have happened to the blade armed Pokémon, something he wouldn't be able to read.

After Thomas left, only a few of them remained, mainly Blade, Alexander, Archie, Carol and Mark. Blade shook his hand and congratulated him for taking down Urayne and that he would be there to see him inaugurated. The leafy reptile was glad to see him and swiftly ran to the exit. Carol and Mark approached him next, walking together in synchrony, their twin golden bands glistening in the dim indoor lights. Mark offered his right hand, Felix accepted it and shook. It felt like he was holding a very large eagle's talons.

"Good job Felix, you did well." His voice was deep and throaty, a strange counterpart to his daughter's. The tall Blaziken was still a good half foot taller than Felix, making him slightly intimidated. "It was very interesting to watch you battle in the tournament, I knew you would be something special. It reminds me of when I entered my first tournament twenty-three years ago. It was the 200th annual tournament in Sootopolis city, I was fresh from my training in Dewford town…" "Mark, please spare us the details of your glory days. There is time for that after his inauguration." Carol chimed in, her voice as smooth as Sylvia's, yet much more mature.

Mark halted his story, cleared his throat, and then asked Felix a question. "So, are you nervous about becoming inaugurated so soon? It took the Republic three months to finally decide I could become a Guardian. It was probably…" He paused. Carol was gazing at him intently, urging him politely to stop. Felix spoke up to answer Mark's question. "Not really. I'm excited about being able to work with the other Guardians." Mark was looked amused at his answer, but Carol smiled knowingly. She seemed to understand something about his answer that he himself didn't know. Carol spoke after a moment.

"Any way Felix, I wanted to say thank you for protecting Sylvia. I was worried that our daughter would not return from the dangerous trip, but I'm glad you were able to defend her against Urayne. I know it cost you your shell, but I'm thankful for your sacrifice. I know you will be a great Guardian." Carol's soft words and kind eyes made Felix feel much better about how he did on his mission and his future as a Guardian. The two said their goodbyes and headed to the exit, arm in arm. As he watched them leave, he remembered the scene in the mirror where he and Sylvia were holding hands in a similarly affectionate manner.

The image sent a small chill down his spine, knowing that it was too soon to even think about that. He turned his attention to the last two people that were still in the lab, Archie and Alexander. In the tank behind Archie, he saw the black and green figure of Alessandro submerged in water, a strange crystal ring surrounding him that glowed green, red, and blue occasionally. Alexander and Archie were both watching Alessandro, watching the green color fade away from his body as it went out his arms and head into the wires attached at those points. He was curious as to what exactly was happening.

"What's happening to Alessandro?" Alexander and Archie both turned to face him, aware of his presence once more. Archie replied in his deep ringing voice. "We're trying to treat him of his Nuclear illness. The procedure appears to be working." Then Archie returned his attention to the glass tank. Alexander saw the confusion on Felix's face and continued where Archie left off.

"When you took down Urayne, his connection to all of the Nuclear creatures immediately severed. The Nuclear energy in their bodies was beginning to be released, but not fast enough. We were unsure how to accelerate the process until Nikola had the idea that maybe Dr. Goo had some idea in his head that could help them in this situation. He searched vaguely through his head until he found the idea of an energetic centrifuge. He then built a small version of it and began to cycle Grass, Fire, and Water type energy through it. The device was able to accelerate the process, pushing the Nuclear energy through the top and bottom of Finn's body. We were able to remove the excess energy in less than a few hours, allowing him to heal. We sent him to his home in Sootopolis City so that he could rest. Now we're working on Nikola's brother, who is showing positive results. For the meantime, we have to keep Urayne in Mauville city, as he's too powerful to drain fast enough with the equipment in this lab." Felix was glad to hear that the Nuclear Pokémon would be okay and that Urayne would be continually drained to prevent him from breaking out. He was concerned about what would happen to Alexander however.

"Will you be able to treat yourself" he asked Alexander. The Nucleon's ears fell a little as he shook his head. "My condition is a form of Evolution; I can't reverse it. Still, it may help with my tinkering in Tandor. I'll go back after your inauguration." He decided to wave the two tinkers farewell and head to Sylvia's house, as while Nikola did give him lots of Oran Berry juice (Which while tasting like orange juice, is actually colored a deep cobalt), he wanted to have a proper meal before his inauguration. It sure was nice to be home again.


	32. Chapter 32: Ballroom

Chapter 32: Ballroom

Felix went to Sylvia's house so that he could retreat from the other people that wanted to congratulate him. He knew that they all meant well, but he didn't like being around people for too long or he would get a splitting headache (part of why he preferred to stay inside on weekends). He went inside Sylvia's house, wondering if she would be inside. He tried to look around the small house for her, but couldn't find her. Maybe she was helping with his inauguration at the event center right now. Wherever she was, he was just glad to have some quiet time to himself.

He prepared himself another humble meal with what he could find and sat at the table and prayed before eating. It was so odd for him to be able to sit down in a chair like he used to only ten days ago. He'd only been here for ten days and he felt so involved in the events that had taken place over the last few. He pondered as he ate quietly to himself about the events that had transpired over the last week. He'd been able to win the tournament, get attacked by a Nuclear Swampert, get assigned on what at the time seemed like a suicide mission, get nearly killed by a Nuclear giant, and then end up without a shell or tail. Somethings did bother him, one of them being Dr. Goo.

He'd shown up on Friday in the middle of the gym; lifeless, cold, and alone. He was part of the events that led to a way to heal others of their Nuclear illness, his knowledge vast and unseen. Wherever he came from, he was a knowledgeable individual. What life was he ripped away from? What did he leave behind when Hoopa transported him to this strange world of Pokémon? Did he leave behind anyone…special? There was also the business of Urayne. He didn't appear haphazardly; it was almost as if he was created by something else. He acted like any other creature that he encountered, but there was something unusual about how prideful he was.

Sure, he met people that thought they were all that, but none of them claimed to be a god. Maybe it was just because he was much more powerful, but there was still something wrong. Urayne was able to literally expand his size with his pride, growing stronger and more resilient. This power was not like anything that he remembered, not in any games that he played; Pokémon or not. He felt that Urayne's power was not from this world, but had a power from some other world, but where? Where did pride enable someone to expand themselves in strength beyond the norm?

And how was Felix able to topple Urayne and his prideful power? Where did his strength come from? Hoopa said that it wasn't given to him through his transformation, but came from something before his arrival in this world. He stewed his thoughts to himself until it was 5:30, glad to enjoy the time for him to think to himself (his healing period was just him lazily sleeping for three days, so he didn't have much time to think). He then stood up and prepared to walk to the event center for his imminent inauguration. The sun was low in the sky, even though it was the dead of winter technically (Hoenn was a small island nation close to the equator, so it didn't get much below 46 degrees on any given day).

He walked towards the gym and took a right turn to the north. The event center was a squat building that was across the cobblestone street from the northern entrance to the gym. The building itself wasn't much to look at, just a wide white building with a red tiled roof. It wasn't quite as expansive as the gym, but it was a fairly large building. Other people were streaming inside, most of them older than the audience that saw his tournament battle. He entered through the large red doors on the front into what he could only call a mud room.

The ceilings were much taller than he thought they would be, going up to about nine feet. The floor was marble, streaked with lines of black and grey in a stream like pattern. There was a counter to the left that offered padding to wrap around your feet or tail so you wouldn't damage the floor inside. He brushed his feet off on the deep brown rug before he went through the door to the hall, which was carpeted thankfully. There were several other rooms inside the building with modular walls to help divide them further. His inauguration would be in the ballroom, dead center of the building. He went across the hall and into the ballroom. Now Felix had little experience with ballrooms, having only gone to a small prom dance at a hotel once (he was still having PTSD, Prom Traumatic Stress Disorder).

He was not exactly an expert on architecture or interior design either, so he wasn't prepared for the vast amount of luxuriously decorated space that awaited him on the inside. The ceilings went up twenty feet, gilded with ornate golden designs intricately embedded into the dark mahogany. The walls and floor were made of the dark wood as well, making the large ball room feel lavish and yet cozy. Electric lights hung on the wall, making the room feel much warmer. A large chandelier hung in the middle, made up of fist sized pieces of crystal in a drooping ball of shimmering glory.

He was in awe at how beautiful this room was, thinking of how he'd never really taken a good look at a room before. The small crowd was trickling towards the far side of the ballroom, in front of a small raised platform where a podium stood. He could see that the other Guardians were there, sitting to the left of the podium. Well, Sylvia was sitting, Nikola was floating and Archie was 'standing'. There were fold out chairs on the right wall that some of the others were grabbing and setting up in front of the platform.

A single chair stood on the right side of the podium, unoccupied. Felix knew that that would be his seat, so he timidly began to walk to the other side of the ballroom and then sat in the small chair. He had arrived early, so it would be a while before the inauguration would begin. He saw all of the people in the audience that were there to see him in the lab along with many more. He turned his attention to Sylvia, as he hadn't seen her in a while. _"Hello Sylvia, how are you?"_

She turned her head around, trying to find who was talking to her until her gaze landed on Felix. She smiled as she mentally spoke. _"I'm doing well thanks. I'm glad to hear that you were able to recover." "I am too."_ He grinned. _"I'm sorry you had to teleport me out after I battled Urayne, I didn't want to put too much strain on your half." "Don't be sorry Felix, I couldn't have survived if you weren't so willing to battle Urayne. I'm just glad that both of us are safe now." "Me too."_

The two of them ended their conversation as they both saw Senator Kelly gracefully enter the ballroom, her white dress sweeping as she came forward. The audience stood as they to saw her coming, waiting for her to take her place at the podium. She came up onto the platform and stood behind the podium that waited for her. She signaled for the audience to be seated and spoke in her regal, clear voice "Now we will begin with our proceedings."


	33. Chapter 33: Inauguration

Chapter 33: Inauguration

Felix was feeling anxious as Kelly began to speak, his hands fiddling with themselves for something to do. "For over two hundred years, the Hoenn Republic has appointed four individuals to protect the people. They are chosen for their rare traits that make them unique among all people. Felix Wilshore is a shining example of a Guardian. Brave, loyal, chivalrous, kind, humble, and most of all, he is dedicated to protecting those around him, regardless of who they are. We are going to appoint him to guardianship today. Is there anyone who opposes this honor being bestowed on Felix?"

The audience was silent, roaring with the approval of the Senate's decision. Felix couldn't help but try to hide, the attention was too much for him. Kelly turned to him, her regal air making him feel as if she knew everything about him. "Would Felix please come to the stand so that I may bestow him this duty?" He stood obediently and meekly walked to the stand before Senator Kelly, waiting for her command. She raised her right arm and held out her left, waiting for him to do the same. He obeyed, placing his hand on top of her dainty upright palm.

"Repeat after me. Do you, Felix David Wilshore, pledge to defend this city and region with all your heart, might, mind, and strength for the protection of its people?" He repeated after her, haltingly as he was feeling increasingly nervous. "Do you pledge to defend your fellow guardians, Nikola Spurlock Tesla, Archimedes Steven Grey, and Sylvia Elizabeth Throckmorton, willing to sacrifice your own life for their safety and the security of all?" He pledged accordingly, less nervous about what he was going to do.

"Do you pledged to remain on constant guard and to never let your other duties interfere with the security of the United Regions and all the people that live in them?" He pledged, the tension mounting as he was nearing the end. She lowered her hands and grabbed a small bronze chain with a small pink charm off of the podium. The charm appeared to be the Mossdeep gym emblem, a pink heart with a small pink topaz in the middle above the yellow tip. "Kneel" she told him quietly. He obeyed.

"I hereby declare you, Felix David Wilshore, a member of the Guardian council and a Guardian of Mossdeep City." She lowered the small bronze chain around Felix's neck, officially declaring him as a part of this community. The audience clapped, glad to declare him a Guardian of this fair city. "Now greet your fellow Guardians." She commanded. He rose up and went to try and shake hands with them. He shook Nikola's large circular hand as he congratulated him on his achievements. Since Archie's hands were too big to shake, he was satisfied with a small fist bump, which was almost like getting hit by a small car.

He turned to meet Sylvia, her bronze chain dangling around her neck above her thorn. He could see her gratitude as she wrapped her arms around his middle and suddenly hugged him. He was not expecting her to hug him and was quite shocked at her sudden contact (he was also worried that her thorn would impale him, but he couldn't feel it through his dense fur). He returned the embrace, more comfortable with hugging his first friend that he found in this world.

 _"I'm so proud of you Felix. I'm glad you're a Guardian now."_ He was happy to hear her tell him that, the words making him feel as if he was glowing. He noticed that for a brief moment, he did glow a soft red. He had no idea what it was and separated himself from Sylvia. She was smiling, happy at Felix's success. He smiled as well, something he seldom did. He was a part of this world now, he may find a way to his old one, but for now, he was just glad to be a Guardian with Sylvia. The audience went quiet once more, until Kelly announced "Now let's dance!"


	34. Chapter 34: Meltdown

Chapter 34: Meltdown

Felix was quite unprepared for Kelly's sudden announcement. He didn't even notice the small orchestra that gathered towards the back of the ballroom until she said 'dance'. The crowd immediately start putting away their chairs and gathered in the center of them room, excitedly ready to dance. Felix just felt lost at this point, completely unsure of what to do under these circumstances. He had been to a few dances before, but he hardly enjoyed them. Most of the time he'd wander the halls and listen to the music while everyone else danced. The orchestra was composed mainly of Gardevoir with sprinklings of Alakazams and Medichams.

They started to play songs that were somehow familiar, the string instruments pouring out their melodious tunes. The crowd gathered excitedly, apparently certain as to what dance they were going to do. Sylvia quickly joined them, going with her friends like Lily to the dance. Felix was left on the stand with Nikola and Archie, the three of them not being adept at dancing. He left the stand in search of other people to talk to.

He came across Slag and Jason, talking in their deep voices to each other. It appeared to be that they were complaining about how they had to wear padding on their feet and tails, uncomfortable with the fluffy white material covering them. He left them and started to just look at the dancers as they enjoyed their systematic movements.

Felix was unable to understand why Gardevoir had dresses, trying to explain them as a kind of armor or a way to distribute energy evenly. As he saw them dance, he figured that what they were really for was dancing. Their skirts flitted about in a hypnotic pattern, mesmerizing Felix as he enjoyed their dances. He leaned against the wall, thinking to himself as he listened to the music and observed Sylvia dancing with her friends. It felt like he was watching them for hours when someone interrupted.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Wukong stated. Felix had been so entranced by the dance that he didn't notice Wukong slowly walking towards him. He was surprised to see the fiery monkey talking to him, seeing as how he beat him in battle. How he was able to escape the normal swath of girls around him was another mystery. He was unsure about talking to him, but decided it would be fine. "It is" he said, trying to continue observing them. Wukong kept talking, willing to continue his thoughts. "It's one of the reasons I came to Hoenn, I always enjoyed their dances. Sure, we have dances back in Sinnoh, but nothing quite as special as what they have to offer here. Did you enjoy dances up in Kalos?"

"Not really, I'm not very good with my feet, so I don't bother dancing." Wukong was pondering this tidbit for a moment until he gave Felix his reply. "I think you could dance. It's mainly coordinating your movements with your partner. I've seen you battling with Sylvia very cooperatively, maybe you should dance with her." Felix was unsure of how to respond to an invitation such as this. He liked Sylvia, he admitted that, but would he dance with her? He pondered this deeply as Wukong continued.

"You two were amazing to watch during the tournament. You attacked and weaved impressively, much better than Albert and I's swift, independent motions. How did you come to meet her?" Wukong urged. "She was the first person I met when I came to Hoenn." Which technically wasn't lying, but he felt that it was still a weak response. Wukong didn't seem to mind however. He shrugged. "The offer stands, take it or leave it. I won't blame you if you don't dance with her, but I really think you should. See ya!" Wukong then left him and was approached by Lily, who immediately struck up a conversation with the Infernape.

Felix was left to himself again, thinking on what Wukong told him. He wasn't sure why Wukong was telling him to dance with Sylvia, especially when he could be resentful for losing his battle against Felix. Maybe he was trying to be nice, a novelty he wasn't quite used to. He did feel that he could possibly dance with Sylvia, but not any of the fancy dances they were doing right then. Maybe if they were doing a waltz, he could ask to be Sylvia's dance partner (The waltz was the only ballroom dance that Felix had any idea how to do).

The night wore on, the horde of dancers continuously switching in and out for breaks or conversations. He even saw Nikola get asked to dance by a couple Gardevoir, but he often turned them down and resumed his in depth discussion with Archie, who attracted no dancers. Once Nikola was persuaded to join the dance floor and was currently dancing with her. He thought that they looked cute together, all the couples enjoying their time together in elaborate dances with their partners.

After a while, the musicians finally decided to perform a waltz. Felix was surprised for a moment that he almost didn't realize it was a waltz. He quickly was scanning the walls in search of Sylvia's white lace band, the one indicator he knew to look for. He then pushed himself towards the center of the dancers, in search of his friend. He found Her parents slowly dancing together, along with her Uncle Andrew and Aunt Kelly swaying in the square shaped steps.

He kept scanning the crowd, eager to have a dance with someone for once (an event he hardly used to find exciting, until now for some odd reason). He kept looking through all of the white and green bodies in search of his partner. He found Crystal and Ken dancing together, and on several occasions found himself looking at a Gardevoir who was eager to dance with him, but he dutifully turned them down. He finally saw her, in the crowd with her vibrant ruby eyes and small white lace ribbon in her hair. He found her, but he was too late.

She was slow stepping with a Gallade, Thomas no doubt. They moved in a disturbingly accurate sense of rhythm, almost perfectly. He saw the blissful smiles on Thomas' and Sylvia's faces, glad to be able to dance together. Felix felt crushed. Absolutely, irreversibly, continuously stampeded on by the affection that She and Thomas had for each other. He had not felt greater pain, not even when Urayne had picked him up and thrown him against the heavy metal walls of the reactor chamber. He started to weave through the crowd towards the exit, holding back his tears. Some of the people looked concerned as he passed them, trying to ask what was wrong.

He ignored them, trying his hardest to hold back the pain, sadness, and tears as he left through the ballroom door. He was starting to lose control of his tears, starting to sniffle as he left the building. Once he was alone, he let loose the floodgates of emotion, trying to allow the meltdown to course through him and out into the night air. He sobbed and cried, remembering just how terrible he was. Memories of past failures, what his mom used to call him in her occasional bursts of anger, the fights his mom and dad got into on occasion for no particular reason, and the moments when he felt most alone flowed out of him as he tried to remove the emotions from himself, trying to become the emotionless shell he was sometimes called on Earth.

He wished that he could rid himself of all emotion, as it always made him feel pain, hot and sharp. He remembered the few people that he actually was able to tell about his feelings and what happened to all of them. One went depressed, another moved away, the third turned from her friends. And the fourth…no…he would not remember what happened to her. He always had a hard time finding such people, as he could hardly connect with anyone. He was just a weirdo who loved reading and games, escaping from the people he couldn't connect to.

He was just a little kid stuck in his head, building ideas and stories as he sat to himself, unable to converse with the rest of humanity. He was an alien wherever he was, on earth or in this world of his dreams, nether human nor Pokémon. He was a creature of solitude, destined to walk among the ones he could never truly bond with. The vision in the mirror told him about how he always wanted someone to be bonded to forever, but he was alone, a man with a broken brain and a creature with a broken heart. He was an Aspie, a permanent banishment from ever having someone special.


	35. Chapter 35: Dance

Chapter 35: Dance

He sobbed to himself, curled in a fetal position in shame. As the meltdown began to wear down, he started to hear voices trying to talk to him. _"Are you okay?" "What's wrong?" "What are you feeling?"_ He was feeling oppressed by the voices urges to try and comfort. He just wanted to be left alone. He mentally shouted to the group of voices that gathered in his head. _"GET OUT!"_ Immediately the telepathic voices were silenced, all of them aware of his desire to remain alone in his emotion. He wanted to feel his pain alone, he didn't want to put the burden of his emotions on someone else.

He lied on the cobblestone street in the dim moonlight for a long time, trying to let the meltdown empty himself. Someone came outside, he could feel the air move on his newly exposed back. "Felix." They called, he could tell it was Thomas from his unique voice. "Go away." He murmured. He didn't want to hear anything that the perfect Gallade had to say, especially considering that he danced with Sylvia. The Gallade came to his front and kneeled before him. Felix looked up at the helmeted Pokémon, trying to hold his face in an emotionless pose.

"I know how you're feeling about me Felix. You feel betrayed by my dancing with Sylvia. I understand it Felix, I felt that way to." Felix was unsure what to do about that, his interest was piqued by this comment. His sadness and pain faded as he tried to listen to what Thomas had to say. "Sylvia and I have been friends for a very long time, ever since we were little. I sometimes had hoped that we would remain friends until we could move to the next level. I had been meaning to try and talk to her about it, but she would remain silent about the subject. I was beginning to worry about her when I saw you with Sylvia. You seemed so innocent and at ease about having come to Hoenn, I hoped you wouldn't get between us. I got increasingly nervous with the amount of time you spent around her. I tried to convince myself that you were just training with her for the tournament, that you had no connection with her. It wasn't until I saw you battling with her Friday that I started to feel that you were trying to separate us. I got enraged by this, trying to stop you from taking her from me. I remained angry and resentful until I noticed Sylvia's fear about how hateful I was feeling towards you, trying to stop the battle. I realized that maybe something was wrong with what I was feeling, I never got that angry before.

"I felt ashamed that I let my anger get the best of me. I noticed that you were different during your first tournament battle. You and Sylvia seemed so happy to battle together, working so fluidly to defeat The Iron Skulls with such grace. After you beat them, you helped them get to their feet and teleported them to the healing center. You are a different kind of battler. You didn't want the glory or the attention of battling someone, you still showed respect to them no matter how the treated you or other battlers. You just wanted to battle to help train yourself for the job of Guardian. I tried to become a Guardian myself, training alongside Sylvia in the local tournament. We teamed up and were able to beat all the other teams effectively, but when they announced who the Guardian would be, they picked Sylvia. I felt betrayed by the Senate, claiming that I was more worthy than Sylvia to be a Guardian. I was worried more about me than about Sylvia taking up this dangerous responsibility.

"You are not like that. When I heard that you were going with Sylvia to help clean up the nuclear mess in Tandor, I thought it was just a show to make certain that you were going to be a Guardian. I heard about how much you went through to make sure that Sylvia got back to safety, sacrificing your own shell to protect her. I could never give up something like that for someone else. I knew then that I wasn't worthy to be so possessive of Sylvia. I wanted to tell you how sorry I was for making your life more difficult, doubting your ability and motives. I wanted one last dance with her before I let you have a dance, wanting to talk to her about us and telling her about you. I'm sorry you felt so much pain when you saw us together, I meant nothing by it. I hope you can forgive me."

After hearing Thomas's lengthy tale, Felix was quietly thinking about what he could say in return for pouring out so much of himself to Felix. He could never hold a grudge when he understood the meaning of someone's actions. He understood what he was trying to say and was glad to forgive him for his feelings. "I forgive you Thomas. I didn't know I was hurting you so much." Thomas smiled, his white face glad to hear him. "Thanks Felix, You're a good friend. Now get up, there is someone who wants a dance." Felix thought it odd that someone wanted to dance with him, especially after a full emotional breakdown. Thomas offered his hand, wanting to help lift him up. He took the small forest green appendage, holding his smooth and yet firm hand. Thomas heaved up Felix with all his might, trying to get him upright whilst still being much to light for him to pick up Felix. He finally was able to pull himself up with Thomas's help, which left Thomas breathless. He looked around in hopes to find who was wanting to dance with him.

Standing next to the door in her white and green dress, vivid ruby eyes, green hair, and white lace band was Sylvia. He felt embarrassed that she saw him when he was being extremely emotional, his tears still wet on his face. She walked slowly towards him, bathed in the soft glow of the half moon. Her bronze pendant reflected the moonlight warmly, the Mossdeep emblem glittering pleasantly. Felix thought he had never seen anything or anyone as beautiful than Sylvia was at that moment.

"Would you like to dance?" she asked in her soft, melodious voice. Being captivated by how beautiful she was, he could only manage to say "Sure". Thomas took that as his cue and excused himself as he walked back inside the event center. She held out her right hand, asking for him to give her his left hand. She lifted her right hand to Felix's shoulder as he put his right arm behind her back (It had been a while since his last dance, so he assumed that this was the correct dancing position, especially since he was now dancing with a Pokémon).

The two of them swished back and forth to the beat of the soft music they could hear coming from inside. Sylvia gazed into Felix's eyes, examining them and smiled as if she saw something pleasing inside. She then began to talk to him as they continued their simple dance. "Do you want to know why I took you in when you arrived here?" Felix all to vividly remembered the incident where he fell on top of her from Hoopa's ring. "I accidentally crushed you." He recalled.

She smiled, obviously not fazed by his comment. "You came here from somewhere else, you were afraid and alone, taken from the only world you knew. There was something unique about you, I could sense your emotions much more clearly than anyone else's. Your emotions themselves were much stronger than anything I've sensed before, as if you didn't really understand what a color was until you saw it truly for the first time. You feel much more than anyone else I've met. You felt loneliness, fear, and yet a sense of joy among the others. You were happy to be here, but you still felt alone. Your mind is much vaster and intricate, like a complicated machine, but you feel broken.

"You aren't able to communicate with other people, always stuck in your own head with your thoughts. You feel trapped by your unique mind, but I think it's more than that. You're not just a broken machine that is left to run itself forever, you are a powerful individual. You are truly kind, loyal, brave, and selfless. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for the people and for a stranger that you had only met a week ago. You are much more valuable than anything else in this world. You believe in something so much stronger that no one else does. Your belief is unique to this world and holds great power.

"When I first say you pray, I felt a strong presence with you. He was with you when you faced Urayne alone, empowering you so that you could defend what you cared about most. They love you and want you to continue your fight for what is right. He will always be with you, even through the hardest challenges. You are not just a strange creature made to feel pain, you are a brilliant, humble, and kind person. You don't have to feel alone anymore Felix; He is here for you. I am here for you."

Felix felt as if his heart had been melted by her kind words and then reformed into something harder and brighter than before. He was deeply thankful to be with Sylvia through all of his challenges. She was his one friend that he knew he could truly trust. Sure, there was still the issues of Dr. Goo, the prophecy, and the nightmare, but none of that mattered for now. Even the visions of what they could be in the future fell beneath what he was able to enjoy tonight. He was just glad to have this dance, this moment to share with someone. A very special someone.


	36. Chapter 36: Shadows

Chapter 36: Shadows

Filius was very pleased to hear that the Praetor wanted to hear a status report of his device. He walked the dank halls of their current base in The Outer Lands, only occasionally lit by the small clusters of white crystal that stubbornly grew into the faded yellow stone. He hated those crystals, a small sample of purity in a realm of darkness. Nothing was ever pure, it was always just a mixture of everything else, always dark at the center. None of the other Clerics said they were bothered by it, but then again none of them had his background.

He walked around the systematic maze of their current home until he finally came to the Praetors closure, behind a large ancient gateway. He inserted his rune tablet into the middle of the black metal housing in the center of the cosmic door. The black tendrils retreated from their four posts, shrinking down until they were all inside the small black box. The cube floated in the middle of the door way, keeping the door open until the tablet was removed.

He could see Praetor Alberic pacing back and forth, his dark steel armor and crimson robes shuffling and clinking as he moved back and forth. "I am ready with the report you asked for Praetor." Alberic looked his way, the gleam of his helmet dimly lit by the small glimpses into the infinite cosmos he kept around his chamber and the occasional chaotic bolts of energy. "Did it work? Have you found a new world for us to utilize?" Filius bowed, his crimson hood and dark shroud unable to allow him to fully express his delight.

"I have found such a world Praetor." "And have you found a way to get there?" He cackled greedily. Filius let a smirk form on his face under his hood. "I have indeed Praetor. I utilized one of our portals to a different purpose and was able to somewhat send one of our knights to this distant realm." "Somewhat?" "Yes, I am afraid Praetor that while it was able to send Dodorol to this distant land, Dodorol's body and the device remained behind." Praetor Alberic pondered this news, unsure of what to say. "It is a shame that Dodorol suffered, he was one of our bravest knights."

"I am afraid that he volunteered wholeheartedly to go, as he always thought he was the only one that could survive the trip Praetor. I do think that his pride got the best of him." He was all too familiar with the knight's hubris, a part of why he sent him in the first place. Alberic was not pleased to hear that the device was currently malfunctioning. "I want you to fix the World Warper as quickly as you can. I am tired of living in this dull void of existence. I want to walk on true ground once more."

Filius bowed, showing his obedience to his desirous lord. "Yes Praetor. I will begin renovating the World Warper as soon as possible. It may take a while, but I assure you that you will feel soil beneath your feet before long." The helmeted man looked pleased by Filius' words, the glint of his eyes shining gold behind the slits of his mask. "Good, I know you'll pull through for me Filius. You always have in times past. It will be a great day when you succeed me as Praetor." "It will indeed my lord. I bid you fare well; I have a project to attend to." He bowed one last time and turned to leave the Praetor to his desirous visons. He removed the small stone tablet from the cube, which then regrew the four dark tendrils and reformed the impossible cosmic barrier.

What a fool Alberic was. Did he really think that Filius was going to obey him when he was the real ruler? He had been planning for years the events that would unfold so that he could do his own personal assignment. Everything was falling into place, just how he planned it. He thought viciously about what he would be able to do and how he would soon be able to meet his brother. After he crawled from this worthless world of shadows, it would only be a matter of time before he met Felix again.


End file.
